STATE/INR REQUEST FOR SNIE ON ARGENTINA NUCLEAR PROGRAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 22, 2007
• Sequence Number: 40
• Publication Date: June 10, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2007/03/23: CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8
Approved For Release 2007/03/23: CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8
 Approved For Release 2007/03/23: CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8
ARTICLE AP'PI 1 S . THE WASHINGTON POST ?
ON pAc. k 7 June 1982
? alarmed that he stopped all nuclear
Argentines sales to Argentina.This didn't slow
May ~ the Argentine program. The Cana
j1'IGo Ahead dians, West Germans and Swiss wereF
eager to provide assistance.-
ith the Bomb To become energy-independent
by the year 2000, Argentina figures
it needs six nuclear power plants.
In 1951,. Juan Peron announced. The-fast one, built with West Ger-:
-that. Argentina had harnessed the--. man help, is in use; the second, a
atom, and a tremor of apprehension, Canadian venture, is due to open
rippled around the world. Would this summer. The third, another
this most terrifying of all sabers now -West German Fml+ is to open in
be rattled by a strutting, second-rate the mid-1980s.
dictator? The Swiss, meanwhile, have
But it turned out that Peron's agreed to build a heavy-water plant
boast was based on the work of an for Argentina that has U.S. ? intelli--
erratic Austrian physicist who had gence experts worried. # Combined
worked. for Nazi Germany before with * the. materials. and knowhow
fleeing to Argentina. The apprehen- they already . have, this plant will. -
:sion turned to ridicule, and for a enable the Argentines to control the
while Argentines became ~e butt of full cycle of -technology needed to
nuclear jokes. . produce nuclear bombs.
The jokes are no longer funny. In fact, a plant to be built near
Argentina has some world-class nu- Buenos Aires will be able to repro-
clear scientists, all the, necessary cess spent nuclear fuel into plutoni-
technology and soon will have um. This is the stuff of which.nude-
.enough nuclear material to make the ar bombs are made..
.bomb. Equally disturbing is the fact that
Some time before the Falkland. Argentina's nuclear program is, run
-Islands crisis, a secret State Depart- by the navy. And although the head
ment report warned: "Argentina's of the program, Adm. Carlos .
capability in the nuclear field, an- Madero, has repeatedly stated that
nounced plans for a national nuclear Argentina does not plan to build a
industry and prospects for nuclear bomb, the country's refusal "to join
growth, including eventually a nu- international non-proliferation and
clear weapons capability, remain a . inspection programs is ominous.
source of concern for the United Madero contends that Argentina has
States." had the technology to build a bomb
In fact, President Carter was so: since December. 1970. but hasn't.
The CIA has estimated that 1979
was the "earliest technically feasible
date" that Argentina could have had
a nuclear "device" in hand, and reck-
oned that it would take:a,muchlong
er time to produce tuclear-weapons.
The CIA added. that, "Any at-
tempt to actually fabricate 'and-or
test a nuclear, device will come only
after. the country has considered .the
political and strategic situation and
is desperate enough to: , accept the
consequences ..... "
-Intelligence sources told my asso-
ciate Dale Van Atta : that , the CIA
now estimates that it would take
Argentina three years to build a
bomb. But they: added that the De-
fense Intelligence Agency'thm it
codTW sooner. en e officia
ques lone privately,-. agree, saying
they could do the job in six months.
The big question, of course,' is
whether the Falklands situation has'
made Argentina "desperate enough"
to forge ahead with a nuclear weap-
ons program. There are some indi-
cations that they're at least getting
ready to make a decision.
. For example, the CIA:-'reported
last year. that there: were sips ,thst.*
Argentina was -planning to trade raw
uranium to China for enriched weap=
ons-gra4 uranium.. South Africa,
which has an active nuclear-weapons,
program, has a secret arms-cooper-
ation agreement 'with Argentina.
.And the Soviet Union agreed in
April to sell at least 45 pounds of
enriched uranium to Argentina.. - .
 - Approved For Release 2007/03/23: CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8
. DDI- 7102
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
June 8, 1982
SECRET
MEMORANDUM FOR: Mr. Henry Rowen .
Chairman, National Intelligence Council
Central Intelligence Agency
SUBJECT: Intelligence Community Assessment of
Argentina's Nuclear Program
The Department believes it would be most timely if the
Intelligence Community would prepare a general assessment of
the Argentine nuclear program. Although a detailed study
would be useful, I believe that a shorter, overview assessment
done relatively quickly would be an essential first step.
My staff has discussed thi-s with the Special Assistant
for Nuclear Proliferation Intelligence, and
provided him with a number of detailed questions that have
been raised here. Informal discussion indicates that perhaps
a fast-track. SNIE might be the next logical step.
Hugh Montgomery
SECRET
 Approved For Release 2007/03/23: CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8
Approved For Release 2007/03/23: CIA-RDP87R00029R000200420040-8