South Africa Ratifies Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, List of Signatories to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. - Plague War - FRONTLINE," PBS, October 29, 1998, "The History of the Use of Bacteriological and Chemical Agents during Zimbabwe's Liberation War of 1965-80 by Rhodesian Forces," Third World Quarterly Vol. south africa bomb nuclear missiles african revisiting weapons south force defence african national Atomic Energy Commission officials say that a "cold test" (a test without uranium-235) was planned for August 1977. It meant participating in international sporting events and the global economy, from which South Africa had been isolated. [34], As of 2015, South Africa still possessed most of the weapons grade uranium extracted from its nuclear weapons, and had used some of it to produce medical isotopes. The site was abandoned and the holes sealed. [7], South Africa developed a small finite deterrence arsenal of gun-type fission weapons in the 1980s. [26], In 2010, The Guardian released South African government documents that confirmed the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal. 
The countrys leaders at the time believed its international isolation was tied to apartheid, not its nuclear program. [1] South Africa began to focus on the success of its uranium enrichment programme which was seen by its scientists as easier compared to plutonium. [1] In 1969, the project was abandoned by the South African government because the reactor was draining resources from the uranium enrichment program that had begun in 1967. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was established in 1975 to minimize the risk of diversion of nuclear technology and to regulate nuclear technology transfers, control the export of nuclear material, equipment and technology, and monitor the transfer of dual-use materials. The resultant treaties between these two states reduced nuclear weapons, but were only half measures in two respects. Get the latest news from World101, including teaching resources and special offers. Yet this pressure did not curb South Africas nuclear ambitions. israeli nuclear south weapons africa defence offered revealed minister negev ambiguity atomic reactor dimona desert outside Such mutually assured destruction, they argue, will deter states from actually using the bomb on each other. secondly, researching and developing weapons in the dirty tricks" program, where products could be supplied for individual assassinations. They should also encourage more states to join the treaty, especially African states only nine are members. [15], Three rockets had already been launched into suborbital trajectories in the late 1980s in support of development of the RSA-3 launched Greensat Orbital Management System (for commercial satellite applications of vehicle tracking and regional planning). contribution south africa nuclear weapons most facts know didn budget transparent second As a result, the IAEA was satisfied that South Africa's nuclear programme had been converted to peaceful applications. In mid-1977, the AEB produced a gun-type devicewithout a highly enriched uranium (HEU) core. Why should African states and people be concerned about nuclear disarmament? nuclear revisiting dismantlement albright stricker autoren auteurs [39] Other unverified claims include that a so-called infertility toxin[clarification needed] was introduced into black townships, and that cholera was deliberately introduced into the water sources of some South African villages. One of the premises of deterrence is that nuclear armed states must be vulnerable to attack. De Klerk disclosed the information about his weapons to the United States in an effort to get the weapons removed.[32]. south weapons africa israeli nuclear defence missiles dimona patriot offered revealed minister apartheid toward reactor deployed walks soldier recently unit In 1997, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad stated that South Africa had conducted a test, but later retracted his statement as being a report of rumours.[23]. Joelien Pretorius has in the past received funding from the National Research Foundation in South Africa and is a member of the the South African chapter of Pugwash. But declassified documents and official accounts help historians understand what drove the countrys leaders to pursue a nuclear program and what motivated them to give it up less than two decades later. Although the Y-Plant was operating, it had not yet produced enough weapons-grade uranium for a device. During the 1970s, its system of apartheid and refusal to sign the NPT increasingly isolated South Africa. Associate Professor in Political Studies, University of the Western Cape. [27][28] Israel categorically denied these allegations and claimed the documents do not indicate any offer for a sale of nuclear weapons. With active regional conflicts ending and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, South Africas government felt less vulnerable. One shaft was 385 metres deep, the other, 216 metres. Why? 
That decision was risky. In 1977, the AEB established its own high-security weapons research and development facilities at Pelindaba, and during that year the program was transferred from Somchem to Pelindaba. The IAEA also found no indication to suggest that there remain any sensitive components of the nuclear weapons program which have not been either rendered useless or converted to commercial non-nuclear applications or peaceful nuclear usage. In 1982, Armscor built the first operational weapon, code-named Hobo and later called Cabot. The conflict in Angola, where South Africa had sent troops, came to a close in 1988. But South Africa was never a formal ally of the United States, which meant that U.S. support was limited. test kalahari site nuclear south weapons desert vastrap building africa bombs military base program safrica nuclearweaponarchive In 1980 the Taiwanese contracted for 4,000 tons of uranium metal although it is not known how much of this order was ever delivered. While Hobo/Cabot were not functional, the Hamerkop series were smart television-guided glide bombs.[9]. south nuclear rsa africa weapons bomb never could missile And enough support for the Pelindaba Treaty, an agreement among African states that prohibits the acquisition, stockpiling, testing and other activities that promote nuclear weapons or assist in their production, has turned the continent into a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. If the Vela incident was a nuclear test, South Africa is virtually the only possible country, potentially in collaboration with Israel, which could have carried it out. What one countrys evolution on nuclear weapons illustrates about disarmament. Following this, South Africa joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as a full member on 5 April 1995. [45][46] In January of 1992, the government of Mozambique alleged that either South Africa, or South African backed Renamo forces deployed an artillery-delivered airburst chemical weapon during a battle at a rebel base in Tete province. [16], David Albright and Chris McGreal reported that South African projects to develop nuclear weapons during the 1970s and 1980s were undertaken with long term cooperation from Israel. Today many of these treaties have been terminated, and reductions have slowed to a trickle, with more than 13,000 nuclear warheads still in existence. Wouter Basson (19811992), as Project Officer and ultimately Nieuwoudt and Basson recruited a large contingent of medical professionals, scientists and weapons specialists to research and develop these weapons and associated antidotes. [24][25], In 2000, Gerhardt said that Israel agreed in 1974 to arm eight Jericho II missiles with "special warheads" for South Africa. South Africa became a member of the NSG on April 5, 1995. [13], The warheads were originally configured to be delivered from one of several aircraft types then in service with the South African Air Force (SAAF), including the Canberra B12 and the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer. [1] The possibility of South Africa collaborating with France[6] and Israel in the development of nuclear weapons was the subject of speculation during the 1970s. 
This device reportedly had a yield of 6 kilotons of TNT. [32] The African National Congress political party, which took power in South Africa after Apartheid, approved of nuclear disarmament. It often depends on how that countrys leaders see their nations place in the world. 
The IAEA declared it had completed its inspection in late 1994 and that South Africa's nuclear weapons facilities had been dismantled. Frets over South African vault with enough fuel for 6 nuclear bombs", "How armed intruders stormed their way into a South African nuclear plant", "Project Coast: Apartheid's Chemical and Biological Warfare Programme", "Frontline: Interview with Dr. Daan Goosen: Former Managing Director: Roodeplaat Research Laboratories", "Frontline: Interview with Ronnie Kasrils: Deputy Defence Minister, South Africa", "Special Hearings: Chemical and Biological Warfare Hearings", "The South Africa Chamical and Biological Weapons Program: An Overview", https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sa/, "What Happened In South Africa? But they were not as smart as they thought, and the weather changed so the Americans were able to pick it up. [21] Also in 1977, according to foreign press reports, it was suspected that South Africa signed a pact with Israel that included the transfer of military technology and the manufacture of at least six nuclear bombs. They thought that nuclear weapons would protect the country from security threats, not extend its exile.
The U.S. government suspended aid to South Africa and its athletes were even barred from participating in the Olympics and international cricket and rugby events. The country has been a signatory of the Biological Weapons Convention since 1975, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons since 1991, and the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1995. This agreement, the first of its kind for South Africa--the twenty-ninth for the United States--enables signatory governments to remain abreast of the latest research information in the field of nuclear safety. [10] On 28 August, The Washington Post quoted a US official: "I'd say we were 99 percent certain that the construction was preparation for an atomic test."[11]. They can do so by prioritising nuclear disarmament in their foreign policy, creating awareness among Africans that nuclear disarmament is a worthy cause.
The French foreign minister warned on 22 August of "grave consequences" for French-South African relations.
But the concept has many flaws, including assuming that all nuclear-armed states and individual decision-makers sign up to its logic, and that they have perfect information about the nuclear decisions of adversaries.
As this chapter of South African history illustrates, the decisions to acquire and give up nuclear weapons are not simple: they are informed by domestic and international issues and threats, both real and perceived. The South African case offers insights into why leaders of a country might seek to acquire nuclear weapons and why they might give those up. Five soldiers were said to have died, and many more were injured. Yet, close to 4,000 nuclear weapons are deployed around the world, on alert and ready to be used. south africa arniston nuclear bombs vehicle weapons building mungo poore courtesy larger safrica nuclearweaponarchive Secondly, the US and Russia also assumed that nuclear dominance would remain their prerogative. On March 24, 1993, in a speech to the South African parliament, President F. W. de Klerk announced publicly that his country had secretly built and dismantled six nuclear weapons. 
bombs supervision shafts armscor iaea The CTBT was ratified by the South African government on March 30, 1999. Soldiers in a tank drive through Lisbon, Portugal, during the military coup on April 25, 1974. [1], In 1965, the U.S. subsidiary, the Allis-Chalmers Corporation, delivered the 20MW research nuclear reactor, SAFARI-1, along with ~90% HEU fuel to South African nuclear authority. Of course, South Africa armed and disarmed in secret, so its exact motivations can be difficult to determine. An Armscor official who was not involved at the time said that the test would have been a fully instrumented underground test, with a dummy core. To respond to these flaws during the Cold War, states pursued arms control agreements and confidence building arrangements.
The countrys leaders at the time believed its international isolation was tied to apartheid, not its nuclear program. [1] South Africa began to focus on the success of its uranium enrichment programme which was seen by its scientists as easier compared to plutonium. [1] In 1969, the project was abandoned by the South African government because the reactor was draining resources from the uranium enrichment program that had begun in 1967. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was established in 1975 to minimize the risk of diversion of nuclear technology and to regulate nuclear technology transfers, control the export of nuclear material, equipment and technology, and monitor the transfer of dual-use materials. The resultant treaties between these two states reduced nuclear weapons, but were only half measures in two respects. Get the latest news from World101, including teaching resources and special offers. Yet this pressure did not curb South Africas nuclear ambitions. israeli nuclear south weapons africa defence offered revealed minister negev ambiguity atomic reactor dimona desert outside Such mutually assured destruction, they argue, will deter states from actually using the bomb on each other. secondly, researching and developing weapons in the dirty tricks" program, where products could be supplied for individual assassinations. They should also encourage more states to join the treaty, especially African states only nine are members. [15], Three rockets had already been launched into suborbital trajectories in the late 1980s in support of development of the RSA-3 launched Greensat Orbital Management System (for commercial satellite applications of vehicle tracking and regional planning). contribution south africa nuclear weapons most facts know didn budget transparent second As a result, the IAEA was satisfied that South Africa's nuclear programme had been converted to peaceful applications. In mid-1977, the AEB produced a gun-type devicewithout a highly enriched uranium (HEU) core. Why should African states and people be concerned about nuclear disarmament? nuclear revisiting dismantlement albright stricker autoren auteurs [39] Other unverified claims include that a so-called infertility toxin[clarification needed] was introduced into black townships, and that cholera was deliberately introduced into the water sources of some South African villages. One of the premises of deterrence is that nuclear armed states must be vulnerable to attack. De Klerk disclosed the information about his weapons to the United States in an effort to get the weapons removed.[32]. south weapons africa israeli nuclear defence missiles dimona patriot offered revealed minister apartheid toward reactor deployed walks soldier recently unit In 1997, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad stated that South Africa had conducted a test, but later retracted his statement as being a report of rumours.[23]. Joelien Pretorius has in the past received funding from the National Research Foundation in South Africa and is a member of the the South African chapter of Pugwash. But declassified documents and official accounts help historians understand what drove the countrys leaders to pursue a nuclear program and what motivated them to give it up less than two decades later. Although the Y-Plant was operating, it had not yet produced enough weapons-grade uranium for a device. During the 1970s, its system of apartheid and refusal to sign the NPT increasingly isolated South Africa. Associate Professor in Political Studies, University of the Western Cape. [27][28] Israel categorically denied these allegations and claimed the documents do not indicate any offer for a sale of nuclear weapons. With active regional conflicts ending and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, South Africas government felt less vulnerable. One shaft was 385 metres deep, the other, 216 metres. Why? 
That decision was risky. In 1977, the AEB established its own high-security weapons research and development facilities at Pelindaba, and during that year the program was transferred from Somchem to Pelindaba. The IAEA also found no indication to suggest that there remain any sensitive components of the nuclear weapons program which have not been either rendered useless or converted to commercial non-nuclear applications or peaceful nuclear usage. In 1982, Armscor built the first operational weapon, code-named Hobo and later called Cabot. The conflict in Angola, where South Africa had sent troops, came to a close in 1988. But South Africa was never a formal ally of the United States, which meant that U.S. support was limited. test kalahari site nuclear south weapons desert vastrap building africa bombs military base program safrica nuclearweaponarchive In 1980 the Taiwanese contracted for 4,000 tons of uranium metal although it is not known how much of this order was ever delivered. While Hobo/Cabot were not functional, the Hamerkop series were smart television-guided glide bombs.[9]. south nuclear rsa africa weapons bomb never could missile And enough support for the Pelindaba Treaty, an agreement among African states that prohibits the acquisition, stockpiling, testing and other activities that promote nuclear weapons or assist in their production, has turned the continent into a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. If the Vela incident was a nuclear test, South Africa is virtually the only possible country, potentially in collaboration with Israel, which could have carried it out. What one countrys evolution on nuclear weapons illustrates about disarmament. Following this, South Africa joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as a full member on 5 April 1995. [45][46] In January of 1992, the government of Mozambique alleged that either South Africa, or South African backed Renamo forces deployed an artillery-delivered airburst chemical weapon during a battle at a rebel base in Tete province. [16], David Albright and Chris McGreal reported that South African projects to develop nuclear weapons during the 1970s and 1980s were undertaken with long term cooperation from Israel. Today many of these treaties have been terminated, and reductions have slowed to a trickle, with more than 13,000 nuclear warheads still in existence. Wouter Basson (19811992), as Project Officer and ultimately Nieuwoudt and Basson recruited a large contingent of medical professionals, scientists and weapons specialists to research and develop these weapons and associated antidotes. [24][25], In 2000, Gerhardt said that Israel agreed in 1974 to arm eight Jericho II missiles with "special warheads" for South Africa. South Africa became a member of the NSG on April 5, 1995. [13], The warheads were originally configured to be delivered from one of several aircraft types then in service with the South African Air Force (SAAF), including the Canberra B12 and the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer. [1] The possibility of South Africa collaborating with France[6] and Israel in the development of nuclear weapons was the subject of speculation during the 1970s. 
This device reportedly had a yield of 6 kilotons of TNT. [32] The African National Congress political party, which took power in South Africa after Apartheid, approved of nuclear disarmament. It often depends on how that countrys leaders see their nations place in the world. The IAEA declared it had completed its inspection in late 1994 and that South Africa's nuclear weapons facilities had been dismantled. Frets over South African vault with enough fuel for 6 nuclear bombs", "How armed intruders stormed their way into a South African nuclear plant", "Project Coast: Apartheid's Chemical and Biological Warfare Programme", "Frontline: Interview with Dr. Daan Goosen: Former Managing Director: Roodeplaat Research Laboratories", "Frontline: Interview with Ronnie Kasrils: Deputy Defence Minister, South Africa", "Special Hearings: Chemical and Biological Warfare Hearings", "The South Africa Chamical and Biological Weapons Program: An Overview", https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sa/, "What Happened In South Africa? But they were not as smart as they thought, and the weather changed so the Americans were able to pick it up. [21] Also in 1977, according to foreign press reports, it was suspected that South Africa signed a pact with Israel that included the transfer of military technology and the manufacture of at least six nuclear bombs. They thought that nuclear weapons would protect the country from security threats, not extend its exile. The U.S. government suspended aid to South Africa and its athletes were even barred from participating in the Olympics and international cricket and rugby events. The country has been a signatory of the Biological Weapons Convention since 1975, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons since 1991, and the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1995. This agreement, the first of its kind for South Africa--the twenty-ninth for the United States--enables signatory governments to remain abreast of the latest research information in the field of nuclear safety. [10] On 28 August, The Washington Post quoted a US official: "I'd say we were 99 percent certain that the construction was preparation for an atomic test."[11]. They can do so by prioritising nuclear disarmament in their foreign policy, creating awareness among Africans that nuclear disarmament is a worthy cause.
The French foreign minister warned on 22 August of "grave consequences" for French-South African relations. But the concept has many flaws, including assuming that all nuclear-armed states and individual decision-makers sign up to its logic, and that they have perfect information about the nuclear decisions of adversaries.
As this chapter of South African history illustrates, the decisions to acquire and give up nuclear weapons are not simple: they are informed by domestic and international issues and threats, both real and perceived. The South African case offers insights into why leaders of a country might seek to acquire nuclear weapons and why they might give those up. Five soldiers were said to have died, and many more were injured. Yet, close to 4,000 nuclear weapons are deployed around the world, on alert and ready to be used. south africa arniston nuclear bombs vehicle weapons building mungo poore courtesy larger safrica nuclearweaponarchive Secondly, the US and Russia also assumed that nuclear dominance would remain their prerogative. On March 24, 1993, in a speech to the South African parliament, President F. W. de Klerk announced publicly that his country had secretly built and dismantled six nuclear weapons. bombs supervision shafts armscor iaea The CTBT was ratified by the South African government on March 30, 1999. Soldiers in a tank drive through Lisbon, Portugal, during the military coup on April 25, 1974. [1], In 1965, the U.S. subsidiary, the Allis-Chalmers Corporation, delivered the 20MW research nuclear reactor, SAFARI-1, along with ~90% HEU fuel to South African nuclear authority. Of course, South Africa armed and disarmed in secret, so its exact motivations can be difficult to determine. An Armscor official who was not involved at the time said that the test would have been a fully instrumented underground test, with a dummy core. To respond to these flaws during the Cold War, states pursued arms control agreements and confidence building arrangements.
