Burma Announces Plans to Go Nuclear

by Ma Nguyen Tong

12-1-2002

Burma, considered by some a rogue state, announced it plans to join the nuclear club. The Burmese Foreign Minister, Win Aung, said his country was committed to developing a nuclear research facility for medical purposes and possibly to generate nuclear power. But it would be some time before a nuclear reactor was actually built in Burma he said.

In December 2001 and January there had been numerous reports that Russia had signed a deal with Burma to supply a reactor. The Burmese authorities admitted more than 200 technicians had received nuclear training in Moscow in 2001. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna officially asked Moscow to provide details of any deal they had made with Rangoon.

Safety standards

Win Aung said no deal had yet been signed but initial research had been done and Burma was keen to explore the use of nuclear energy. He said many other countries in the world were using nuclear power. Given Burma's chronic energy shortage, there was little wonder they might want to experiment with nuclear power.

IAEA officials said Rangoon told them in September 2001 of plans to acquire a nuclear research reactor and asked for help to secure one. Two months later the IAEA sent an inspection team to Burma to assess the country's preparedness to use and maintain a nuclear reactor safely. The team concluded that the safety standards in place were well below the minimum the body would regard as acceptable. Burma had yet to respond to the IAEA report, but nuclear officials in Vienna feared this meant that Burma planned to proceed with their nuclear ambitions without the necessary attention to safety.

Asian concern

But nuclear experts said that even if the military government wanted to build a nuclear reactor, it would likely be several years before this could happen. In the meantime many countries, especially in the Asian region, would be concerned about the prospect of a nuclear Burma. Diplomats in Rangoon said authorities had trouble maintain existing electricity generators let alone a nuclear reactor.