burma building anuclear bomb

[Obersturmbanfuhrer Olly]

Burma 'trying to build nuclear weapon'

Page last updated at 14:21 GMT, Friday, 4 June 2010 15:21 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia_pacific/10236381.stm

Burmese army major Sai Thein Win says Burma is working towards a
nuclear bomb This defector says Burma is working towards a nuclear
bomb

Burma is working to develop a nuclear weapon, according to an
investigation by a Burmese exile broadcaster.

The new film by Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) includes evidence from
a Burmese army officer who defected.

The years-long investigation concluded that Burma was a long way from
building an atomic bomb.

A former UN nuclear inspector who has seen the findings said he
believed Burma was trying to build nuclear weapons.

The revelations come a day after a US senator cancelled a visit to
Burma because of concern over its alleged nuclear ambitions.

The new documentary, Burma's Nuclear Ambitions, features testimony
from Major Sai Thein Win, who defected in February.
'Expending huge resources'

He brought out documents and pictures from a factory, which he says is
building prototypes for nuclear components.
A vessel allegedly used for converting uranium for the nuclear fuel
cycle A vessel allegedly used for converting uranium for the nuclear
fuel cycle

Maj Sai is a mechanical engineer who worked on machining parts and
visited the Burmese nuclear battalion in Thabeikkyin, says the
documentary.

He provided photos purportedly of machines that can be used to convert
uranium compounds for use in nuclear fuel or a nuclear weapon.

Robert Kelley, a former inspector with the International Atomic Energy
Agency, a UN watchdog, said he believed Burma was probably mining
uranium and exploring nuclear technology "useful only for weapons".

In an online article for DVB, he writes: "The information provided by
[Major] Sai and other reporters from Burma clearly indicates that the
regime has the intent to go nuclear and it is... expending huge
resources along the way."

Mr Kelley said the quality of the machine parts and the mechanical
drawings was "poor".

"Nothing we have seen suggests Burma will be successful with [these]
materials and components," he writes.

He said if Burma was found to be developing nuclear weapons it should
face sanctions.
'No Pyongyang link'