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Work Needed Against Nuclear Profiteers, U.S. Says By Greg Webb VIENNA — Concerned about “individual profiteers” who can proliferate nuclear technology without their government’s permission, the United States on Monday called for a new international effort to prevent black market nuclear trade (see GSN, Aug. 12). “We must address the threat that individuals with access to nuclear material and technology may in some way or at some time be open to coercion, corruption, or compromise,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, speaking on the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual meeting here. The risk is more than abstract. Early this year top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan reportedly confessed to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see GSN, Feb. 2). The United States has accepted Pakistan’s assertion that Khan acted without official authorization. “Individual profiteers, trading in nuclear weapons designs, technology, and equipment, make evident that the nuclear threat is not limited to sovereign states alone,” Abraham said. To combat the problem, Abraham proposed a collaboration between IAEA member governments and the nuclear industry “to ensure that export control laws are followed, and that there will be swift enforcement action when they are not.” The new “partnership” would “seek to find new ways to thwart the black market trade,” he added. This work would involve the full range of fuel-cycle firms, from uranium mine operators to manufacturers of dual-use nuclear equipment.
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