South Africa and weapons of mass destruction
Encyclopedia
From the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa
pursued research into weapons of mass destruction
, including nuclear
, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled. With the anticipated changeover to a majority-elected government in the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons, the first nation in the world which voluntarily gave up nuclear arms it had developed itself.
The country has been a signatory of the Biological Weapons Convention
since 1975, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
since 1991, and the Chemical Weapons Convention
since 1995.
South Africa developed a small finite deterrence
arsenal of gun-type fission weapon
s in the 1980s. Six were constructed and another was under construction at the time the program ended. South Africa was able to mine uranium
ore domestically, and used aerodynamic nozzle enrichment techniques to produce weapons-grade material. South-Africa is suspected of having received technical assistance from various sources, including assistance from Israel in building its first nuclear device. In 1969, a pair of South-African scientists met with Sültan Mahmoud
, a nuclear engineer, to hold discussion on enrichment technology and to learn the effective use of aerodynamic-jet nozzle process to enrich the fuel. However, it is unknown and unclear on how much knowledge was gained, and how much interaction was made between them.
at the Vastrap
weapons range north of Upington. Two test shafts were completed in 1976 and 1977. One shaft was 385 metres deep, the other, 216 metres. 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
. In mid-1977, the AEB produced a gun-type device—without a highly enriched uranium (HEU) core. Although the Y-Plant was operating, it had not yet produced enough weapons-grade uranium for a device. As has happened in programmes in other nations, the development of the devices had outpaced the production of the fissile material.
Atomic Energy Commission officials say that a "cold test" (a test without uranium-235
) was planned for August 1977. 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. Its major purpose was to test the logistical plans for an actual detonation.
How that test was cancelled has been well publicised. Soviet intelligence detected test preparations and in early August alerted the United States; U.S. intelligence
confirmed the existence of the test site with an overflight of a Lockheed SR-71
spy plane. On 28 August, the Washington Post quoted a U.S. official: "I'd say we were 99 percent certain that the construction was preparation for an atomic test."
The Soviet and Western governments were convinced that South Africa was preparing for a full-scale nuclear test. During the next two weeks in August, the Western nations pressed South Africa not to test. The French foreign minister warned on 22 August of "grave consequences" for French-South African relations. Although he did not elaborate, his statement implied that France was willing to cancel its contract to provide South Africa with the Koeberg
nuclear power reactors.
In mid-1983 de Villiers
said that when the test site was exposed, he ordered its immediate shutdown. The site was abandoned and the holes sealed. One of the shafts was temporarily reopened in 1988 in preparation for another test, which did not take place; the move was intended to strengthen South Africa's bargaining position during negotiations to end the war
with Angola
and Cuba
.
The six bombs were designed to be delivered from one of several aircraft types then in service with the South African Air Force
(SAAF). The Canberra B12
in service with 12 Squadron SAAF
was chosen as the primary air drop vehicle.
South Africa also planned to build intercontinental ballistic missile
s. One of the missiles, the RSA-4, was planned to deliver a lightened and modernised nuclear warhead as far as New York or Moscow by 2000. After the nuclear program was cancelled, the ICBM plans also lapsed.
and Chris McGreal
have claimed that South African projects to develop nuclear weapons during the 1970s and 1980s were undertaken with some cooperation from Israel. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
of 4 November 1977 introduced a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa, also requiring all states to refrain from "any co-operation with South Africa in the manufacture and development of nuclear weapons".
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in 1977 Israel traded 30 grams of tritium
for 50 tons of South African uranium
and in the mid-1980s assisted with the development of the RSA-3 ballistic missile
. 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.
In September 1979, a US Vela satellite
detected a double flash over the Indian Ocean that was suspected, but never confirmed to be a nuclear test, despite extensive air sampling by WC-135 aircraft of the United States Air Force
. If the Vela Incident
was a nuclear test, South Africa is one of the countries, possibly in collaboration with Israel
, that is suspected of carrying it out. No official confirmation of it being a nuclear test has been made by South Africa, and expert agencies have disagreed on their assessments. 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. In February 1994, Commodore Dieter Gerhardt
, the convicted Soviet spy and former commander of South Africa's Simon's Town
naval base was reported to have said:
In 2000, Dieter Gerhardt claimed that Israel agreed in 1974 to arm eight Jericho II
missiles with "special warheads" for South Africa.
In 2010, The Guardian
released South African government documents that it alleged confirmed the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal. According to The Guardian, the documents were associated with an Israeli offer to sell South Africa nuclear weapons in 1975. Israel categorically denied these allegations and said that the documents do not indicate any offer for a sale of nuclear weapons. Israeli President Shimon Peres
said that The Guardian article was based on "selective interpretation... and not on concrete facts." Avner Cohen
, author of Israel and the Bomb and the forthcoming The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel's Bargain with the Bomb, said "Nothing in the documents suggests there was an actual offer by Israel to sell nuclear weapons to the regime in Pretoria."
" in favour of Communism, represented in southern Africa by Cuban proxy forces in Angola
and threatening Namibia. In 1988 South Africa signed the Tripartite Accord with Cuba and Angola, which led to the withdrawal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola and independence for Namibia.
Another possible motivation for eliminating nuclear weapons in South Africa was the probability of an ANC government in the near future. The ANC was listed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, and it had a long history of co-operation with leaders like Gadaffi and organisations such as the PLO. The pre-emptive elimination of nuclear weapons would "make a 'significant contribution...toward peace, stability and progress,'" improving South Africa's relations with and restoring their credibility in regional and international politics. Reiss also states the opinion that the white government greatly feared the unpredictability of a black government inheriting nuclear technologies.
South Africa dismantled its nuclear weapons program in 1989. All the bombs (six constructed and one under construction) were destroyed and South Africa acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
when South African Ambassador to the United States Harry Schwarz
signed the treaty in 1991. On 19 August 1994, after completing its inspection, the IAEA confirmed that one partially completed and six fully completed nuclear weapons had been dismantled. As a result, the IAEA was satisfied that South Africa's nuclear program had been converted to peaceful applications. Following this, South Africa joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group
(NSG) as a full member on 5 April 1995. South Africa played a leading role in the establishment of the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty
(the Treaty of Pelindaba) in 1996, becoming one of the first members in 1997. South Africa also signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
in 1996 and ratified it in 1999.
The Treaty of Pelindaba came into effect on 15 July 2009 once it had been ratified by 28 countries. This treaty requires that parties will not engage in the research, development, manufacture, stockpiling acquisition, testing, possession, control or stationing of nuclear explosive devices in the territory of parties to the Treaty and the dumping of radioactive wastes in the African zone by Treaty parties. The African Commission on Nuclear Energy, in order to verify compliance with the treaty, has been established and will be headquartered in South Africa.
, a clandestine government chemical and biological warfare program conducted during the 1980s and 1990s. Project Coast
started in 1983, ostensibly to produce equipment for defensive
purposes, including masks and protective suits. Despite vehement assertions to the contrary, some testimony appeared to show that the programme went well beyond defensive purposes.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
pursued research into weapons of mass destruction
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...
, including nuclear
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...
, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled. With the anticipated changeover to a majority-elected government in the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons, the first nation in the world which voluntarily gave up nuclear arms it had developed itself.
The country has been a signatory of 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...
since 1975, 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...
since 1991, 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...
since 1995.
Nuclear weapons
Mutual assured destruction
Mutual Assured Destruction, or mutually assured destruction , is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of...
arsenal of gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapons are fission-based nuclear weapons whose design assembles their fissile material into a supercritical mass by the use of the "gun" method: shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another...
s in the 1980s. Six were constructed and another was under construction at the time the program ended. South Africa was able to mine 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...
ore domestically, and used aerodynamic nozzle enrichment techniques to produce weapons-grade material. South-Africa is suspected of having received technical assistance from various sources, including assistance from Israel in building its first nuclear device. In 1969, a pair of South-African scientists met with Sültan Mahmoud
Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood
Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, otherwise written as, Sultan Bashir-ud-Din Mehmood), and Manchester, United Kingdom. A controversial figure, Bashiruddin Mahmood is widely popular in Pakistan's scientific and religious circles for his scientific interpretation and its relation to Quran...
, a nuclear engineer, to hold discussion on enrichment technology and to learn the effective use of aerodynamic-jet nozzle process to enrich the fuel. However, it is unknown and unclear on how much knowledge was gained, and how much interaction was made between them.
Testing the first device
The South African Atomic Energy Board (AEB) selected a test site in the Kalahari DesertKalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
at the Vastrap
Vastrap
Vastrap is a small military airfield situated in the Kalahari Desert north east of Upington inside a 700 square kilometre weapons test range of the same name belonging to the South African National Defence Force...
weapons range north of Upington. Two test shafts were completed in 1976 and 1977. One shaft was 385 metres deep, the other, 216 metres. In 1977, the AEB established its own high-security weapons research and development facilities at Pelindaba
Pelindaba
Pelindaba is South Africa's main Nuclear Research Centre, run by The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, and was the location where South Africa's atomic bombs of the 1970s were developed, constructed and subsequently stored...
, and during that year the program was transferred from Somchem to Pelindaba
Pelindaba
Pelindaba is South Africa's main Nuclear Research Centre, run by The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, and was the location where South Africa's atomic bombs of the 1970s were developed, constructed and subsequently stored...
. In mid-1977, the AEB produced a gun-type device—without a highly enriched uranium (HEU) core. Although the Y-Plant was operating, it had not yet produced enough weapons-grade uranium for a device. As has happened in programmes in other nations, the development of the devices had outpaced the production of the fissile material.
Atomic Energy Commission officials say that a "cold test" (a test without uranium-235
Uranium-235
- References :* .* DOE Fundamentals handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor theory , .* A piece of U-235 the size of a grain of rice can produce energy equal to that contained in three tons of coal or fourteen barrels of oil. -External links:* * * one of the earliest articles on U-235 for the...
) was planned for August 1977. An Armscor
Armscor (South Africa)
Armscor , the Armaments Corporation of South Africa is a South African government-supported weapon-producing conglomerate that was officially established in 1968, primarily as a response to the international sanctions by the United Nations against South Africa that began in 1963 and...
official who was not involved at the time said that the test would have been a fully instrumented underground test, with a dummy core. Its major purpose was to test the logistical plans for an actual detonation.
How that test was cancelled has been well publicised. Soviet intelligence detected test preparations and in early August alerted the United States; U.S. intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
confirmed the existence of the test site with an overflight of a Lockheed SR-71
SR-71 Blackbird
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by the Lockheed Skunk Works. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the...
spy plane. On 28 August, the Washington Post quoted a U.S. official: "I'd say we were 99 percent certain that the construction was preparation for an atomic test."
The Soviet and Western governments were convinced that South Africa was preparing for a full-scale nuclear test. During the next two weeks in August, the Western nations pressed South Africa not to test. The French foreign minister warned on 22 August of "grave consequences" for French-South African relations. Although he did not elaborate, his statement implied that France was willing to cancel its contract to provide South Africa with the Koeberg
Koeberg nuclear power station
Koeberg nuclear power station is the only nuclear power station in South Africa and the entire African continent. It is located 30 km north of Cape Town, near Melkbosstrand on the west coast of South Africa. Koeberg is owned and operated by the country's only national electricity supplier, Eskom...
nuclear power reactors.
In mid-1983 de Villiers
De Villiers
de Villiers may refer to:*AB de Villiers, a current South African international cricketer*De Villiers Graaff, a former South African politician.*Fanie de Villiers, a former South African cricketer...
said that when the test site was exposed, he ordered its immediate shutdown. The site was abandoned and the holes sealed. One of the shafts was temporarily reopened in 1988 in preparation for another test, which did not take place; the move was intended to strengthen South Africa's bargaining position during negotiations to end the war
South African Border War
The South African Border War, commonly referred to as the Angolan Bush War in South Africa, was a conflict that took place from 1966 to 1989 in South-West Africa and Angola between South Africa and its allied forces on the one side and the Angolan government, South-West Africa People's...
with Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Viable delivery
South African Air Force
The South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. It is the world's second oldest independent air force, and its motto is Per Aspera Ad Astra...
(SAAF). The Canberra B12
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
in service with 12 Squadron SAAF
12 Squadron SAAF
12 Squadron was a South African Air Force squadron that served in World War II in East Africa and the Western Desert as a medium bomber squadron...
was chosen as the primary air drop vehicle.
South Africa also planned to build intercontinental ballistic missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
s. One of the missiles, the RSA-4, was planned to deliver a lightened and modernised nuclear warhead as far as New York or Moscow by 2000. After the nuclear program was cancelled, the ICBM plans also lapsed.
Alleged collaboration with Israel
David AlbrightDavid Albright
David Albright, M.S., is the founder of the non-governmental Institute for Science and International Security , its current president, and author of several books on proliferation of atomic weapons. Albright holds a Master of Science in physics from Indiana University and a M.Sc. in mathematics...
and Chris McGreal
Chris McGreal
Chris McGreal is a reporter for The Guardian who frequently covers Middle East issues.-Career:McGreal started in journalism with the BBC, covering Mexico and Central America. In 1985 he moved to The Independent, and then to The Guardian in 1992...
have claimed that South African projects to develop nuclear weapons during the 1970s and 1980s were undertaken with some cooperation from Israel. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, adopted unanimously on 4 November 1977, imposed a mandatory arms embargo against apartheid South Africa. This resolution differed from the earlier Resolution 282, which was only voluntary...
of 4 November 1977 introduced a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa, also requiring all states to refrain from "any co-operation with South Africa in the manufacture and development of nuclear weapons".
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in 1977 Israel traded 30 grams of tritium
Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
for 50 tons of South African 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...
and in the mid-1980s assisted with the development of the RSA-3 ballistic missile
Ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...
. 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.
In September 1979, a US Vela satellite
Vela (satellite)
Vela was the name of a group of satellites developed as the Vela Hotel element of Project Vela by the United States to monitor compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty by the Soviet Union, and other nuclear-capable states. It means vigil or "watch" in Spanish.Vela started out as a small...
detected a double flash over the Indian Ocean that was suspected, but never confirmed to be a nuclear test, despite extensive air sampling by WC-135 aircraft of the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. If the Vela Incident
Vela Incident
The Vela Incident was an unidentified "double flash" of light that was detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite on September 22, 1979....
was a nuclear test, South Africa is one of the countries, possibly in collaboration with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, that is suspected of carrying it out. No official confirmation of it being a nuclear test has been made by South Africa, and expert agencies have disagreed on their assessments. In 1997, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad
Aziz Pahad
Aziz Pahad is a South African politician, who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999-2008, he currently serves as an MP for Johannseburg West Highlands.-Education:...
stated that South Africa had conducted a test, but later retracted his statement as being a report of rumours. In February 1994, Commodore Dieter Gerhardt
Dieter Gerhardt
Dieter Felix Gerhardt was a Commodore in the South African Navy and commander of the Simon's Town naval dockyard. In 1982, he was arrested and convicted as a Soviet spy together with his second wife, Ruth.-Cold War:...
, the convicted Soviet spy and former commander of South Africa's Simon's Town
Simon's Town
Simon's Town , sometimes spelled Simonstown; is a town in South Africa, near Cape Town which is home to the South African Navy. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been an important naval base and harbour...
naval base was reported to have said:
- "Although I was not directly involved in planning or carrying out the operation, I learned unofficially that the flash was produced by an Israeli-South African test code-named Operation PhoenixOperation Phoenix-Military-related:* Phoenix Program, CIA military, intelligence, and internal security program in the Vietnam War* Vela Incident, suspected 1979 Israeli-South African nuclear test allegedly codenamed "Operation Phenix"...
. The explosion was clean and was not supposed to be detected. But they were not as smart as they thought, and the weather changed so the Americans were able to pick it up."
In 2000, Dieter Gerhardt claimed that Israel agreed in 1974 to arm eight Jericho II
Jericho missile
Jericho is a general designation given to the Israeli ballistic missiles. The name is taken from the first development contract signed between Israel and Dassault in 1963, with the codename as a reference to the Biblical city of Jericho...
missiles with "special warheads" for South Africa.
In 2010, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
released South African government documents that it alleged confirmed the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal. According to The Guardian, the documents were associated with an Israeli offer to sell South Africa nuclear weapons in 1975. Israel categorically denied these allegations and said that the documents do not indicate any offer for a sale of nuclear weapons. Israeli President Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
said that The Guardian article was based on "selective interpretation... and not on concrete facts." Avner Cohen
Avner Cohen
Avner Cohen is writer, historian, and professor, and is well known for his works on nuclear weapons. Cohen received a B.A. in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University in 1975. He went on to study at York University where he received an M.A. in Philosophy in 1977 and four years later earned a Ph.D....
, author of Israel and the Bomb and the forthcoming The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel's Bargain with the Bomb, said "Nothing in the documents suggests there was an actual offer by Israel to sell nuclear weapons to the regime in Pretoria."
Dismantling
South African forces feared the threat of a "domino effectDomino theory
The domino theory was a reason for war during the 1950s to 1980s, promoted at times by the government of the United States, that speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect...
" in favour of Communism, represented in southern Africa by Cuban proxy forces in Angola
Cuban intervention in Angola
In November 1975, on the eve of Angola's independence, Cuba launched a large-scale military intervention in support of the leftist liberation movement MPLA against United States-backed invasions by South Africa and Zaire in support of two other liberation movements competing for power in the...
and threatening Namibia. In 1988 South Africa signed the Tripartite Accord with Cuba and Angola, which led to the withdrawal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola and independence for Namibia.
Another possible motivation for eliminating nuclear weapons in South Africa was the probability of an ANC government in the near future. The ANC was listed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, and it had a long history of co-operation with leaders like Gadaffi and organisations such as the PLO. The pre-emptive elimination of nuclear weapons would "make a 'significant contribution...toward peace, stability and progress,'" improving South Africa's relations with and restoring their credibility in regional and international politics. Reiss also states the opinion that the white government greatly feared the unpredictability of a black government inheriting nuclear technologies.
South Africa dismantled its nuclear weapons program in 1989. All the bombs (six constructed and one under construction) were destroyed and South Africa 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...
when South African Ambassador to the United States Harry Schwarz
Harry Schwarz
Harry Heinz Schwarz was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid, who eventually served as the South African ambassador to the United States during the country’s transition to representative democracy.Schwarz rose from the childhood poverty he...
signed the treaty in 1991. On 19 August 1994, after completing its inspection, the IAEA confirmed that one partially completed and six fully completed nuclear weapons had been dismantled. As a result, the IAEA was satisfied that South Africa's nuclear program had been converted to peaceful applications. Following this, South Africa joined 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...
(NSG) as a full member on 5 April 1995. South Africa played a leading role in the establishment of the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty
African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty
The African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba, establishes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Africa.The treaty was signed in 1996 and came into effect with the 28th ratification on 15 July 2009.-Treaty Outline:...
(the Treaty of Pelindaba) in 1996, becoming one of the first members in 1997. South Africa also signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force.-Status:...
in 1996 and ratified it in 1999.
The Treaty of Pelindaba came into effect on 15 July 2009 once it had been ratified by 28 countries. This treaty requires that parties will not engage in the research, development, manufacture, stockpiling acquisition, testing, possession, control or stationing of nuclear explosive devices in the territory of parties to the Treaty and the dumping of radioactive wastes in the African zone by Treaty parties. The African Commission on Nuclear Energy, in order to verify compliance with the treaty, has been established and will be headquartered in South Africa.
Biological and chemical weapons
In October 1998, the report of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission included a chapter on Project CoastProject Coast
Project Coast was a top-secret chemical and biological weapons program instituted by the South African government during the apartheid era. Project Coast was the successor to a limited post-war CBW program which mainly produced the lethal agents CX powder and mustard gas; as well as non-lethal...
, a clandestine government chemical and biological warfare program conducted during the 1980s and 1990s. Project Coast
Project Coast
Project Coast was a top-secret chemical and biological weapons program instituted by the South African government during the apartheid era. Project Coast was the successor to a limited post-war CBW program which mainly produced the lethal agents CX powder and mustard gas; as well as non-lethal...
started in 1983, ostensibly to produce equipment for defensive
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
purposes, including masks and protective suits. Despite vehement assertions to the contrary, some testimony appeared to show that the programme went well beyond defensive purposes.
See also
- African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone TreatyAfrican Nuclear Weapons Free Zone TreatyThe African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba, establishes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Africa.The treaty was signed in 1996 and came into effect with the 28th ratification on 15 July 2009.-Treaty Outline:...
- Helikon vortex separation processHelikon vortex separation processThe Helikon vortex separation process is an aerodynamic uranium enrichment process designed around a device called a vortex tube. This method was designed and used in South Africa for producing reactor fuel with a uranium-235 content of around 3–5%, and 80–93% enriched uranium for use in nuclear...
- Military history of South AfricaMilitary history of South AfricaThe history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defense both within South Africa and against it...
- Nuclear weapons and IsraelNuclear weapons and IsraelIsrael is widely believed to be the sixth country in the world to have developed nuclear weapons and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty , the others being India, Pakistan and North Korea...
- South African Border WarSouth African Border WarThe South African Border War, commonly referred to as the Angolan Bush War in South Africa, was a conflict that took place from 1966 to 1989 in South-West Africa and Angola between South Africa and its allied forces on the one side and the Angolan government, South-West Africa People's...
- Overberg Test Range
- Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
External links
- Birth and Death of the South African Nuclear Weapons Programme, Waldo Stumpf, Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa, October 1995
- South Africa and the nuclear option, Marcus Duvenhage, 1998
- Out of South Africa: Pretoria’s Nuclear Weapons Experience (in pdf), Lt. Col. Roy E. Horton, ACDIS Occasional Paper, Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security, University of Illinois, August 2000
- Out of (South) Africa: Pretoria’s Nuclear Weapons Experience, Roy E. Horton, USAF Institute for National Security Studies, August 1999
- Nuclear Files.org guide to proliferation – South Africa
- The Nuclear Weapon Archive account of South Africa
- Israel conducted nuclear experiment in 1979
- South Africa's Nuclear Autopsy: The Risk Report, Winconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, 1996
- Nuclear verification in South Africa, Adolf von Baeckmann, Gary Dillon and Demetrius Perricos, IAEA Bulletin Volume 37 Number 1
- Annotated bibliography for the South African Nuclear Program from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- South Africa's Nuclear Weapons Storage Vault