送信者: "Kumao KANEKO" <kkaneko@eeecom.jp>
件名 : ＥＥＥ会議（超小型核爆弾の開発：英国の近況）
日時 : 2003年5月22日 10:43

各位殿

米国では目下、北朝鮮等との軍事衝突に備えて、5キロトン（広島の約1/3)以下の超
小型核爆弾、いわゆるバンカーバスター型の「ミニ核兵器」の研究開発が着々と進行
しており、1996年以来凍結していた地下核実験の再開も取り沙汰されています（5月8
日 10:28 のメールをご覧ください）。他方英国でも新型の核兵器開発が盛んになっ
ており、この関係の研究者、労働者の数も3,500から、５年後には3,800以上に増員さ
れる模様ですが、その結果英国は、益々米国の「ミニ核兵器」開発計画に協力させら
れることになるという懸念がある由。今朝届いた米国のNew Scientists誌（5/21号)
の情報です。ご参考まで。
ＫＫ
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Britain boosts nuclear bomb research


19:00 21 May 03

Exclusive from New Scientist

Hundreds of extra scientists are being sought to work on
Britain1s nuclear bomb programme. Their job will be to maintain Britain1s
Trident warheads, to help ensure that new weapons can be designed in the
future and to conduct joint research with the US.

But the recruitment drive has raised fears that Britain risks
being sucked into fresh US research on low-yield nuclear weapons - so-called
"mini-nukes" - for use as bunker busters on the battlefield.

Britain "is being dragged down the slippery slope towards new
nuclear weapons and nuclear testing by the US," says Kathryn Crandall, an
analyst with the British American Security Information Council, an
independent think tank in Washington DC.

A spokesman for Britain1s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at
Aldermaston, Berkshire, confirmed to New Scientist that it is planning to
increase its workforce from 3500 to 3800 "or even higher" by 2008. It hopes
to hire up to 80 physicists, materials scientists and systems engineers in
2003 alone.


No detonation


The AWE says the increase is needed because it is having to
adopt new skills to enable it to work on nuclear bombs without detonating
them. Britain and the US agreed to cease their joint underground nuclear
testing programme in 1996, though there are fears that the US now wants to
start testing again.

The new recruits will service the 200 warheads for the Trident
missiles carried by four British submarines. They will also help "maintain
the capability" to design a replacement for Trident, if that is ever
required.

The AWE says that some recruits are "highly likely" to be
involved in research with the US under a 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement. This
research includes a joint investigation into the properties of plutonium in
a series of subcritical tests at an underground laboratory in the Nevada
desert, the first of which took place in February 2002.

There are more than 200 visits a year to the US by AWE staff and
there are some 16 joint working groups, including one on nuclear weapons
engineering and another on nuclear warhead physics.

And the Bush administration1s request to conduct research into
mini-nukes - weapons with a yield of less than five kilotons - is due to be
considered by Congress this week.


Creative and curious


If this mini-nuke research goes ahead, some believe it1ll be
tough for British researchers not to become involved.

"These are creative, curious scientists who want to explore new
concepts. They will obviously be interested in any new US research," says
Ivan Oelrich, director of the strategic security project at the Federation
of American Scientists.

So while AWE says it is not currently working with the US to
produce "any kind of nuclear weapon", its denials have failed to dispel
suspicions in the antinuclear camp.

Rachel Western of Friends of the Earth believes Britain will
eventually investigate mini-nukes, because she says it is on the same
weapons production "treadmill" as the US.


Rob Edwards