Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 3: Strategic Stability and Regional Consequences

AGA 3.4: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 12:30–13:00, MENSA Dül

Cascading Enrichment - Gas Centrifuge Technology in North Korea and Iran — •Matthias Englert — CISAC, Stanford University, USA

In the first more technical part the talk will give a basic introduction on enrichment with gas centrifuge technology, cascade theory and the technologies required to produce the components of these fast spinning machines. A new version of MATHCASC a Mathematica based computational tool to calculate centrifuge cascades for uranium enrichment will be briefly presented. The code has the capability to calculate the separation capacity of a single centrifuge and different operational modes of cascades. The second part of the talk will give a brief outline on the recent developments in the Iranian enrichment program. However, the focus will be then on the recently uncovered North Korean centrifuge enrichment program analyzing the basic capabilities, information about its history and the installed procurement network. Finally the talk discusses the implications on regional and global security, on the effectiveness of sanctions, and on estimates of technical sophistication attributed to a state.