Brazil and weapons of mass destruction
Encyclopedia
In the 1970s and 80s, during the military regime, Brazil had a secret program intended to develop nuclear weapons. The program was dismantled in 1990, five years after the military regime ended, and Brazil is considered free of weapons of mass destruction
.
Brazil is one of several countries that have forsworn nuclear weapons under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
but possess the key technologies needed to produce nuclear weapons.
encouraged the development of independent national nuclear capabilities. During the 1970s and 80s, Brazil and Argentina
embarked on a nuclear competition. Through technology transfers from West Germany
, which did not require IAEA safeguards, Brazil pursued a covert nuclear weapons program known as the "Parallel Program", with enrichment facilities (including small scale centrifuge enrichment
plants, a limited reprocessing capability, and a missile
program. In 1987, President Sarney announced that Brazil had enriched uranium to 20%.
In 1990, President Fernando Collor de Mello
symbolically closed the Cachimbo test site
, in Pará
and exposed the military’s secret plan to develop a nuclear weapon
. Brazil's National Congress
opened an investigation into the Parallel Program. Congress members visited numerous facilities, including the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEAv) in São José dos Campos
. They also interviewed key players in the nuclear program, such as former President João Figueiredo and retired Army
General Danilo Venturini, the former head of the National Security Council (Conselho de Segurança Nacional - CSN) under Figueiredo. The congressional investigation exposed secret bank accounts, code-named "Delta", which were managed by the National Nuclear Energy Commission
and used for funding the program. The congressional report revealed that the IEAv had designed two atomic bomb devices, one with a yield of twenty to thirty kilotons and a second with a yield of twelve kilotons. The same report revealed that Brazil's military regime secretly exported eight tons of uranium to Iraq
in 1981.
In 1991, Brazil and Argentina renounced their nuclear rivalry. On 13 December 1991, they signed the Quadripartite agreement, at the IAEA headquarters, creating the Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials and allowing fullscope IAEA safeguards of Argentine and Brazilian nuclear installations.
Brazil officially opened the Resende
enrichment plant in May 2006. Brazil's enrichment technology development, and the plant itself, involved substantial discussions with the IAEA and its constituent nations. The dispute came down to whether IAEA inspectors would be allowed to inspect the machines themselves. The Brazilian authorities at first did not allow the inspection of the centrifugal cascade halls, arguing that this would reveal technological secrets (probably relating to the use of a magnetic lower bearing in place of the more common mechanical bearing).
The Brazilian authorities stated that, as Brazil is not part of any "axis of evil
", the pressure for full access to inspection - even in universities - could be construed as an attempt to pirate industrial secrets. They also claimed that their technology is better than that of the United States
and France
, mainly because the centrifugal axis is not mechanical, but electromagnetic
. Eventually, after extensive negotiations, agreement was reached that while not directly inspecting the centrifuges, the IAEA would inspect the composition of the gas entering and leaving the centrifuge. Then U.S. Secretary of State
, Colin Powell
, stated in 2004 that he was sure that Brazil had no plans to develop nuclear weapons.
have concluded that in view of its previous nuclear activities, Brazil is in a position to produce nuclear weapons within three years. If Brazil decided to pursue a nuclear weapon, the centrifuges at the Resende
enrichment plant could be reconfigured to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. Even a small enrichment plant like Resende could produce several nuclear weapons per year, but only if Brazil was willing to do so openly.
Brazil wishes to develop a nuclear submarine
fleet, and in 2007 authorised the construction of a prototype submarine propulsion reactor
.
The Aramar Experimental Center located in Iperó
in the State of São Paulo
, was inaugurated in 1988 as the first uranium
-only enrichment plant in Brazil. The facility is run by the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission
(CNEN) and the Brazilian Navy
. In addition to the Centrifuge Enrichment Plant, the facility also hosts an Isotopic Enrichment Laboratory and several Small Nuclear Centers . The enrichment laboratories are under the National Safeguards control and national inspections are carried out by the Safeguards Division of CNEN.
The Cachimbo test site, officially named Brigadeiro Velloso Test Site , is located in the State of Pará
and covers 45,000 square kilometres, an area larger than the Netherlands
. It is within this military area that a 320 meters-deep hole at the Cachimbo Mountain Range was site for nuclear explosives tests. The shaft has been public knowledge since 1986 and was allegedly abandoned in September 1990, when President
Fernando Collor de Mello
used a small shovel to symbolically seal up the hole.
The Army's Technology Center located in Guaratiba
in the State of Rio de Janeiro
is the site of the plutonium
-producing reactor facility, known as 'The Atlantic Project', managed by the Brazilian Army
's Special Projects Institute – IPE. Reports indicate that the gas-graphite reactor would be capable of producing plutonium for atomic bombs.
The Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology is a research facility located in São José dos Campos
, in the State of São Paulo
where nuclear research is also conducted.
The Resende Nuclear Fuel Facility is a nuclear enrichment facility located in Resende
, in the State of Rio de Janeiro
. The plant is managed by the Nuclear Industries of Brazil and by the Brazilian Navy. Currently the plant produces enough HEU for 26 to 31 implosion type warheads.
Brazil acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
on September 18, 1998, ratified the Geneva Protocol
on 28 August 1970, the Biological Weapons Convention
on 27 February 1973, and the Chemical Weapons Convention
on 13 March 1996.
Brazil signed the Treaty of Tlatelolco
in 1967, making Brazil a nuclear-weapon-free zone
.
Brazil is also an active participant in the International Atomic Energy Agency
and the Nuclear Suppliers Group
, multinational agencies concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation
by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development.
Scientific sites
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
.
Brazil is one of several countries that have forsworn nuclear weapons under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...
but possess the key technologies needed to produce nuclear weapons.
Nuclear program
In the 1950s, President Getúlio VargasGetúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
encouraged the development of independent national nuclear capabilities. During the 1970s and 80s, Brazil and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
embarked on a nuclear competition. Through technology transfers from West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, which did not require IAEA safeguards, Brazil pursued a covert nuclear weapons program known as the "Parallel Program", with enrichment facilities (including small scale centrifuge enrichment
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
plants, a limited reprocessing capability, and a missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
program. In 1987, President Sarney announced that Brazil had enriched uranium to 20%.
In 1990, President Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello was the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his trial of impeachment by the Brazilian Senate...
symbolically closed the Cachimbo test site
Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso
Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso – CPBV is a large complex of the Brazilian Armed Forces located in Serra do Cachimbo , in the southern part of Pará, Brazil. The complex includes the Cachimbo Airport operated by the Brazilian Air Force...
, in Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
and exposed the military’s secret plan to develop a nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. Brazil's National Congress
National Congress of Brazil
The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...
opened an investigation into the Parallel Program. Congress members visited numerous facilities, including the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEAv) in São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
. They also interviewed key players in the nuclear program, such as former President João Figueiredo and retired Army
Brazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
General Danilo Venturini, the former head of the National Security Council (Conselho de Segurança Nacional - CSN) under Figueiredo. The congressional investigation exposed secret bank accounts, code-named "Delta", which were managed by the National Nuclear Energy Commission
National Nuclear Energy Commission
The National Nuclear Energy Commission is the Brazilian government agency responsible for the orientation, planning, supervision, and control of Brazil's nuclear program. The agency was created on 10 October 1956...
and used for funding the program. The congressional report revealed that the IEAv had designed two atomic bomb devices, one with a yield of twenty to thirty kilotons and a second with a yield of twelve kilotons. The same report revealed that Brazil's military regime secretly exported eight tons of uranium to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1981.
In 1991, Brazil and Argentina renounced their nuclear rivalry. On 13 December 1991, they signed the Quadripartite agreement, at the IAEA headquarters, creating the Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials and allowing fullscope IAEA safeguards of Argentine and Brazilian nuclear installations.
Brazil officially opened the Resende
Resende, Rio de Janeiro
Resende is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 119,801 and its area is 1,144 km².Resendense refers to people or things from Resende, RJ. Its territory boundaries to the state of São Paulo and Minas Gerais...
enrichment plant in May 2006. Brazil's enrichment technology development, and the plant itself, involved substantial discussions with the IAEA and its constituent nations. The dispute came down to whether IAEA inspectors would be allowed to inspect the machines themselves. The Brazilian authorities at first did not allow the inspection of the centrifugal cascade halls, arguing that this would reveal technological secrets (probably relating to the use of a magnetic lower bearing in place of the more common mechanical bearing).
The Brazilian authorities stated that, as Brazil is not part of any "axis of evil
Axis of evil
"Axis of evil" is a term initially used by the former United States President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 and often repeated throughout his presidency, describing governments that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction...
", the pressure for full access to inspection - even in universities - could be construed as an attempt to pirate industrial secrets. They also claimed that their technology is better than that of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, mainly because the centrifugal axis is not mechanical, but electromagnetic
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
. Eventually, after extensive negotiations, agreement was reached that while not directly inspecting the centrifuges, the IAEA would inspect the composition of the gas entering and leaving the centrifuge. Then U.S. Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, stated in 2004 that he was sure that Brazil had no plans to develop nuclear weapons.
Technological capability
Brazil likely retains the technological capacity and knowhow to produce and deliver a nuclear weapon. Experts at the Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
have concluded that in view of its previous nuclear activities, Brazil is in a position to produce nuclear weapons within three years. If Brazil decided to pursue a nuclear weapon, the centrifuges at the Resende
Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory
The Nuclear Fuel Factory is located near Resende, state of Rio de Janeiro, comprising three units, and has a production capacity of 280 tons of uranium per year. At present, FCN was modernized and produces at the Components and Assembly Unit the fuel rods and fuel elements needed for Brazilian...
enrichment plant could be reconfigured to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. Even a small enrichment plant like Resende could produce several nuclear weapons per year, but only if Brazil was willing to do so openly.
Brazil wishes to develop a nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
fleet, and in 2007 authorised the construction of a prototype submarine propulsion reactor
Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
.
Aramar Experimental Center
23.397°S 47.601°WThe Aramar Experimental Center located in Iperó
Iperó
Iperó is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. Its latitude is 23.35/23°28'14" S and the longitude is 46.69/47°44'05" W. The population in 2004 was 22,390 and the area is 171.44 km². The elevation is 590 m...
in the State of São Paulo
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
, was inaugurated in 1988 as the first uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
-only enrichment plant in Brazil. The facility is run by the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission
National Nuclear Energy Commission
The National Nuclear Energy Commission is the Brazilian government agency responsible for the orientation, planning, supervision, and control of Brazil's nuclear program. The agency was created on 10 October 1956...
(CNEN) and the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
. In addition to the Centrifuge Enrichment Plant, the facility also hosts an Isotopic Enrichment Laboratory and several Small Nuclear Centers . The enrichment laboratories are under the National Safeguards control and national inspections are carried out by the Safeguards Division of CNEN.
Cachimbo Test Site
9.3047°S 54.9464°WPará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
and covers 45,000 square kilometres, an area larger than the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It is within this military area that a 320 meters-deep hole at the Cachimbo Mountain Range was site for nuclear explosives tests. The shaft has been public knowledge since 1986 and was allegedly abandoned in September 1990, when President
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello was the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his trial of impeachment by the Brazilian Senate...
used a small shovel to symbolically seal up the hole.
Army's Technology Center (Guaratiba)
23.0124°S 43.5639°WThe Army's Technology Center located in Guaratiba
Guaratiba
Guaratiba is a large neighborhood located in Rio de Janeiro. It has one of the city's smallest population densities.-Sub-neighborhoods:Due to its territorial size is divided in sub-regions or sub-neighborhoods:...
in the State of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
is the site of the plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
-producing reactor facility, known as 'The Atlantic Project', managed by the Brazilian Army
Brazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
's Special Projects Institute – IPE. Reports indicate that the gas-graphite reactor would be capable of producing plutonium for atomic bombs.
Air Force Technological Center (São José dos Campos)
23.212290°S 45.875120°WThe Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology is a research facility located in São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
, in the State of São Paulo
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
where nuclear research is also conducted.
Resende (Engenheiro Passos) Nuclear Fuel Factory
22.504°S 44.646°WThe Resende Nuclear Fuel Facility is a nuclear enrichment facility located in Resende
Resende
-Portugal:* Resende Municipality, a municipality in the district of Viseu* Resende , a civil parish in the municipality of Resende* Resende , a civil parish in the municipality of Paredes de Coura...
, in the State of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
. The plant is managed by the Nuclear Industries of Brazil and by the Brazilian Navy. Currently the plant produces enough HEU for 26 to 31 implosion type warheads.
Legislation and conventions
Brazil's 1988 Constitution states in Article 21 that "all nuclear activity within the national territory shall only be admitted for peaceful purposes and subject to approval by the National Congress".Brazil acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...
on September 18, 1998, ratified the Geneva Protocol
Geneva Protocol
The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the first use of chemical and biological weapons. It was signed at Geneva on June 17, 1925 and entered...
on 28 August 1970, the Biological Weapons Convention
Biological Weapons Convention
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the...
on 27 February 1973, and the Chemical Weapons Convention
Chemical Weapons Convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction...
on 13 March 1996.
Brazil signed the Treaty of Tlatelolco
Treaty of Tlatelolco
The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
in 1967, making Brazil a nuclear-weapon-free zone
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone
A nuclear-weapons-free zone, or NWFZ is defined by the United Nations as an agreement which a group of states has freely established by treaty or convention, that bans the use, development, or deployment of nuclear weapons in a given area, that has mechanisms of verification and control to enforce...
.
Brazil is also an active participant in the International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
and the Nuclear Suppliers Group
Nuclear Suppliers Group
Nuclear Suppliers Group is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials.- History :It was founded in...
, multinational agencies concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the...
by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development.
See also
- Angra Nuclear Power PlantAngra Nuclear Power PlantAngra Nuclear Power Plant is Brazil's sole nuclear power plant. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto on the Itaorna Beach in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...
- National Nuclear Energy CommissionNational Nuclear Energy CommissionThe National Nuclear Energy Commission is the Brazilian government agency responsible for the orientation, planning, supervision, and control of Brazil's nuclear program. The agency was created on 10 October 1956...
(CNEN) - Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear MaterialsBrazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear MaterialsThe Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials is a binational safeguards agency playing an active role in the verification of the peaceful use of nuclear materials that could be used, either directly or indirectly, for the manufacture of weapons of mass...
(ABACC) - Argentinian nuclear weapons programArgentina and weapons of mass destructionArgentina has a history with the development of weapons of mass destruction. Under the National Reorganization Process, Argentina began a nuclear weapons program in the early 1980s, and was abolished when democracy was restored in 1983....
External links
Official sites- Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil Brazilian Nuclear Industries
- Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear Center of Nuclear Technology Development
- Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas Nucleares National Nuclear Energy Research Institute
- Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear Nuclear Engineering Institute
- Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares Central-West Nuclear Sciences Regional Center
- Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear National Nuclear Energy Commission
- Eletronuclear Manages Brazil's nuclear power plants
- Associação Brasileira de Energia Nuclear Brazilian Association of Nuclear Energy
- Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials
- Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso Cachimbo Test Site
- Comando-Geral de Tecnologia Aeroespacial Brazilian Army - Aerospace Technology General-Command
Scientific sites