xenophobic military rulers of Burma may be the latest country pursuing the path of nuclear power

1. The landmark Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, put in force in 1970, has three
goals: preventing spread of nuclear weapons or technology, promoting cooperation in peaceful uses
of nuclear energy and encouraging nuclear disarmament. Because disarmament has not been a
priority, the technology has slowly spread, as individuals or nations sell expertise for money or
influence. Developments in recent years have shown how possession of nuclear weapons not only
serves as a deterrent, but is a currency of power. As Burma specialist Bertil Lintner details in this
article, isolated and xenophobic military rulers of Burma may be the latest country pursuing the
path of nuclear power. While Burma’s close ally China may not be happy with Burma toying with
nuclear technology, Russia and North Korea may be game. Whether geared to a weapons program
or not, the pursuit of nuclear energy by the secretive and ruthless Burmese regime adds to concerns
of the country’s worried neighbors. – YaleGlobal
Burma’s Nuclear Temptation
Rich with uranium and desperate for control, the Burmese junta may find a nuclear option attractive
Bertil Lintner
YaleGlobal, 3 December 2008
CHIANG MAI: Over the past year, Southeast
Asia’s diplomatic community has tried to sort
fact from fiction in a stream of unconfirmed
reports from Burma, the region's most isolated
and secretive country. Burma’s fledgling
nuclear program with Russian assistance and its
mysterious connections with North Korea raise
concern in the region about its purpose.
According to Burmese exiles in Thailand, the
Russians and North Koreans assist the Burmese
in developing nuclear capability. But wary of
similar reports by Iraqi exiles a few years ago,
which turned out to be false, the international
community remains skeptical. In a research Power salute: Burmese strongman General Than
paper for Griffith University, for example, Shwe; reports of Burmese search for nuclear
Australian scholar Andrew Selth, dismisses the technology are a cause of regional concern.
reports. Enlarge image
Nevertheless, certain facts are not in doubt. Burma first initiated a nuclear research program as early
as 1956, when its then-democratic government set up the Union of Burma Atomic Energy Center,
UBAEC, in then-capital Rangoon. Unrelated to the country's defense industries, it came to a halt
when the military seized power in 1962. New power-holders, led by General Ne Win did not trust
UBAEC head Hla Nyunt.

2. In February 2001, Burma's present junta, the State Peace and
Development Council decided to revitalize the country's nuclear
program, and Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry announced plans to
build a 10-megawatt nuclear research reactor in central Burma. In
July 2001, Burma established a Department of Atomic Energy,
believed to be the brainchild of the Minister of Science and
Technology, U Thaung, a graduate of Burma's Defense Services
Academy and former ambassador to the United States. US-trained
nuclear scientist Thein Po Saw was identified as a leading
advocate for nuclear technology in Burma.
At a press conference in Rangoon on January 21, 2002, Vice-Chief of Military Intelligence Major-
General Kyaw Win issued a statement: “Myanmar's consideration of building a nuclear research
reactor is based on the peaceful purposes getting modern technologies needed for the country,
availability of radioisotopes being used peacefully, training technicians and performing feasibility
study for generation of electricity from nuclear power.quot;
While Burma suffers from chronic power shortages, the need for a research reactor, used mainly for
medical purposes, is unclear. Radioisotopes allow imaging of the brain, bones, organs, lungs and
blood flow, advanced technology for Burma's basic health
services.
However, observers pointed out the Russian-made nuclear-
research reactor that the Burmese authorities sought to acquire is
similar to the 5-megawatt research reactor that the then–Soviet
Union installed at Yongbyon in North Korea in 1965, from which
North Korea later extracted plutonium for a nuclear device.
Burma’s military leaders couldn’t help but notice how North Korea
stood up to the US, a harsh critic of the Burmese regime, mainly
due to its nuclear program.
Reports have been murky since. In April 2007, days after the
restoration of diplomatic ties between Burma and North Korea – broken since North Koreans
detonated a bomb in Rangoon in 1983 – a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam I, docked at
Thilawa port. Burmese officials claimed that the ship sought shelter from a storm. But two Burmese
reporters working for a Japanese news agency were briefly detained when they went to the port to
investigate, indicating possible other, more secret reasons for the visit.
According to the July 2007 issue of the Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based publication by Burmese exiles:
quot;by a strange coincidence, the 2,900-ton North Korean cargo vessel MV Bong Hoafan...sought
shelter from a storm and anchored at a Burmese port last November. The Burmese government
reported that an on-board inspection had 'found no suspicious material or military equipment.' But
journalists and embassies in Rangoon remained skeptical.quot;
At about the same time, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported quot;a North Korean ship
under US surveillance was believed to have unloaded self-propelled artillery at a Myanmar port.quot;
The deal with Russia was stalled for several years, but in May 2007, Russia's atomic energy agency,
Rosatom, announced construction of the nuclear-research reactor. According to Rosatom, the
reactor would use low-enriched uranium, not plutonium. Up to 350 Burmese nationals, most
military personnel, already trained in Russia under the initial 2001 agreement, and since then
several hundred more trained at Russian institutions.

3. Signatories of the agreement reached in Moscow on May 15, 2007
were U Thaung and Rosatom head Sergey Kiriyenko. According to
Rosatom's press release: quot; The sides have agreed to cooperate on
the establishment of a center for nuclear studies in the territory of
Myanmar (the general contractor will be Atomstroyexport). The
center will comprise a 10-megawatt light water reactor working on
20 per cent-enriched uranium-235, an activation analysis
laboratory, a medical isotope production laboratory, silicon doping
system, nuclear waste treatment and burial facilities. The center
will be controlled by IAEA.quot;
Despite that claim, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on May 17, 2007, that Burma
had not reported plans to build a nuclear reactor. As a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty,
Burma is required to allow inspections of any nuclear facilities.
The agreement does not mention North Korea, but in November 2003 the Norway-based
broadcasting station Democratic Voice of Burma, run by Burmese exiles, reported that 80 Burmese
military personnel had departed for North Korea to study quot;nuclear and atomic energy technology.quot;
The report remains unconfirmed, its source unclear. If Burmese military personnel traveled to North
Korea, it’s more likely for training in maintenance of missiles, which Burma then wanted to buy
from North Korea but could not yet afford.
Alarm bells rang in August 2008, after India withdrew permission for a North Korean plane to
overfly its airspace on route to Iran, just before taking off from Mandalay in Burma where it had
made a stopover. The Ilyushin-62 carried unidentified cargo, and it’s destination after the stopover
was unclear.
Reports of some cooperation between Burma, Russia, North Korea and Iran have also come from
two Burmese nationals, an army officer and a scientist, who recently left the country. According to
them, a Russian-supplied 10-megawatt research reactor is being built, at Myaing, north of Pakokku,
said to be for peaceful research. But according to the defectors, another facility exists south of the
old hill station of Myin Oo Lwin, formerly known as Maymyo. Three Russians supposedly work
there while a group of North Koreans are said to engage in tunneling and constructing a water-
cooling system. The defectors also assert that in 2007 an Iranian intelligence officer, identified only
as quot;Mushavi,quot; visited Burma. Apart from sharing nuclear knowledge, he reportedly provided advice
on missile systems using computer components from Milan.
Burma has uranium deposits, and the Ministry of Energy has
identified five sources of ore in the country, all low-grade uranium
unsuitable for military purposes. But the defectors claim that two
more uranium mines in Burma are not included in official reports:
one near Mohnyin in Kachin State and another in the vicinity of
Mogok in Mandalay Division. The ore is supposedly transported to
a Thabeikkyin refinery, conveniently located between the two
alleged mines.
Until such reports can be verified, or refuted, speculations remain.
But a nuclear-powered Burma would be a nightmare for all
neighbors and would upset the balance of power in the region. All

4. that is certain is that Burma has a nuclear program. It may be years, if not decades, away from
developing nuclear-weapons capability. But the fact that the country's military leadership
experiments with nuclear power is cause for concern.
Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist based in Thailand and the author of several works on Asia,
including “Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia” and “Great Leader, Dear Leader:
Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan.”
Rights: © 2008 Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
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