Don't stop with Joint Forces Command … cut AFRICOM too

Abstract

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has been a military success but a strategic messaging failure. The United States’ relationships across Africa cannot be boiled down to military affairs. This paper argues that Africa has many more opportunities than challenges and thus requires a more balanced foreign policy solution from Washington DC than a new military command. For the military engagement that does need to take place, a more low-profile approach would benefit the United States in Africa.     

THE SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA'S NUCLEAR ENERGY EXPANSION

Nuclear energy is an integral part of China's energy strategy and will increasingly contribute to China's total energy supply. China has more than twenty civilian facilities, including power reactors, mines, and enrichment plants, to support its nuclear power program. As China operates more nuclear plants, more nuclear materials will be produced and stockpiled, and more nuclear facilities will be spread around the country. To ensure that this expanded network of nuclear facilities does not increase the risk that nuclear materials will be diverted or become the target of attack, China will need to develop more reliable domestic nuclear security strategies. China is also poised to become a major exporter of nuclear energy technology. China has committed to keeping nuclear technologies out of the hands of dangerous states and/or sub-state organizations, but in order to fulfill its nonproliferation obligations as well as its treaty-based commitment to share nuclear technologies, China will need to strengthen nuclear export controls and practices. This report examines and evaluates security measures at Chinese civilian nuclear power plants and suggests ways to improve them. It also reviews current export control policies and systems, identifies likely challenges to the expanding nuclear sector, and proposes possible solutions.     

GERMANY'S CURRENT AND FUTURE PLUTONIUM INVENTORY

In the past, Germany reprocessed a significant amount of its spent nuclear fuel, partly on its own territory but mostly as a customer of British and French reprocessing plants. In mid-2005, Germany stopped this practice, banning new transports of spent fuel for reprocessing—although the already-exported material would be allowed to be reprocessed and recycled in German reactors as mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. In total, about 6,500 tonnes of heavy metal have been contracted for reprocessing, but a significant portion of this material has neither been reprocessed nor recycled as MOX fuel in German reactors. Due to the complex import-export history and the partly nontransparent information policy of the German government and utilities, a comprehensive and up-to-date plutonium balance for Germany is not publicly available. This report provides an assessment of Germany's plutonium inventory (stored domestically or abroad) based on open-source information. Special attention is paid to the issue of whether the entire inventory of separated plutonium can be completely irradiated in German nuclear reactors before the last of them are shut down in 2022. The authors conclude that Germany's stock of plutonium waiting to be recycled was about 12.2 tonnes as of 2010; this plutonium should be completely re-imported from the United Kingdom and France by 2017. Germany's MOX-consumption capacities should be sufficient to irradiate the remaining plutonium, although further delays are expected that could leave Germany with an inventory of separated (unirradiated) plutonium.     

NUCLEAR ISLANDS

Current International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards do not provide adequate protection against the diversion to military use of materials or technology from certain types of sensitive nuclear fuel cycle facilities. In view of highly enriched uranium's relatively greater ease of use as a nuclear explosive material than plutonium and the significant diseconomies of commercial spent fuel reprocessing, this article focuses on the need for improved international controls over uranium enrichment facilities as the proximate justification for creation of an International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Association (INFCA). In principle, the proposal is equally applicable to alleviating the proliferation concerns provoked by nuclear fuel reprocessing plants and other sensitive nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The INFCA would provide significantly increased nonproliferation assurance to its member states and the wider international community by holding long-term leasehold contracts to operate secure restricted zones containing such sensitive nuclear facilities.     

Effects of Nuclear Technology Export Competition on Nuclear Nonproliferation

ABSTRACT

While nuclear suppliers compete in markets, they simultaneously partner in other fields. This produces a delicate relationship between civilian nuclear programs and nuclear weapon proliferation. This study explores how export competition affects suppliers’ conditions of supply related to nuclear nonproliferation. We investigated three export cases (India, North Korea, and South Korea) and identified four effects that competition has on the conditions of supply related to nonproliferation. First, under highly competitive conditions, suppliers might hesitate to enforce the conditions of supply to avoid negotiation conflicts with recipients. Second, suppliers focus on politically and economically attractive recipients while mostly ignoring unattractive ones, perhaps allowing proliferation problems to fester out of view in marginal states. Third, suppliers can build consensus on the conditions of supply to avoid being the only party experiencing negotiation conflicts. Fourth, suppliers can constrain others from relaxing the conditions of supply to maintain economic benefits and nonproliferation norms. The first two effects accelerate proliferation while the last two promote nonproliferation. Although the extent of these effects can vary with changes in nonproliferation norms, they can contribute to our understanding of the relationship between nonproliferation and civilian nuclear programs.     

航空吊放声纳主动方式暴露距离研究

航空吊放声纳是反潜作战主要搜潜设备之一,其主动工作方式暴露范围也是搜潜战术运用的重要参数。基于均方声压声纳方程修正了相关参数,得到了声能声纳方程各项参数定义,结合高斯束射线Bellhop模型,研究了吊放声纳主动方式暴露距离估算方法,针对潜艇两种声纳类型工作特性,进行了仿真和分析。仿真结果表明,在潜艇侦察声纳工作时,吊放声纳主动方式暴露距离明显加大。     

无人机技术中国专利分布情况及其专利情报运用

无人机技术是近年兴起的一项涵盖领域宽、技术难度高、战场和市场应用前景均十分广阔的前沿技术.文章分析了1986年-2012年份期间在中国申请的、其专利名称、权利要求和摘要中包含有“无人机”、“无人驾驶飞机”或者“无人驾驶飞行器”等关键词的专利检索结果分布情况.文章对如何在国防科研中积极有效地运用专利情报以及加强科研过程中的保密工作提出了建议.     

漂浮式微型波力发电装置原理与结构

为了满足偏远岛屿小功率用电保障需求,根据波浪能特点,提出一种新型漂浮式微型波力发电装置。利用重锤惯性定心原理,建立浮动"机架",解决漂浮体内部相对固定问题;采用机-电直接转换系统,提高波浪能的利用效率;研究系统的原理与结构,分析系统的功能特点和主要运动参数。研究结果表明,漂浮式微型波力发电装置具有结构原理新颖、传动效率高、传动质量好与轻巧便携等优点。该研究为漂浮式微型波力发电装置的研发与应用奠定了基础。     

基于时频信号项的输电塔损伤识别柔度矩阵法

将悬臂结构损伤识别柔度矩阵法和振动时域响应信号时频分析方法相结合,利用柔度矩阵与结构参数间的线性关系,引入突卸荷载激励下振动响应的WVD时频分布信号项幅值向量,通过求解损伤系数方程来识别集中质量型输电塔结构的损伤位置和程度。算例分析表明,所提出的方法通过一次测量就能准确地识别出结构单个或多个损伤的程度,并具有良好的抗噪性。     

再生冷却通道结构参数对碳氢燃料流量分配影响

以液体火箭发动机再生冷却技术为背景,采用数值模拟方法对Z-type型并联通道流量分配特性进行研究,分析了通道数、通道截面形状及入口汇流结构对流量分配特性的影响。研究结果表明:在冷却通道总流通面积相同的情况下,随着再生冷却系统通道数的增加,流量分配不均匀度系数从2.59%降低至0.5%,相同流通面积下增加通道数可以有效提高流量分配的均匀程度。通道截面形状对流量分配不均匀度系数影响不大,其影响主要表现在通道内部流体速度分布及换热面积上。从换热效果看,梯形截面构型要优于矩形构型。入口汇流结构倾斜角有利于流量的均匀性分布。该研究对于再生冷却通道结构设计具有一定参考价值。