Argentina and weapons of mass destruction

Argentine Republic

Nuclear program start date| Early 1980s (ended in 1983)
First nuclear weapon test| None
First thermonuclear weapon test| None
Last nuclear test| None
Largest yield test| None
Total tests| None
Peak stockpile| None
Current stockpile| None
Current strategic arsenal| None
Cumulative strategic arsenal in megatonnage| None
Maximum missile range| None
NPT party| Yes
Weapons of mass destruction

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Proliferation

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Under a military dictatorship, Argentina began a nuclear weapons program in the early 1980s, but this was abolished when democracy was restored in 1983.

## Missile systems

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During the 1980s, the Alacrán (English: Scorpion) and Cóndor 1 (English: Condor) missiles were developed.[1] The Cóndor 2, with a range of around 1,000 kilometres,[2] was intended to be developed with assistance from Egypt and Ba'athist Iraq. However, the project was condemned by the United States and the Missile Technology Control Regime.[3] It was reportedly scrapped during the Menem administration under pressure from the United States government and due to a lack of funds in 1990.[3][4]

## Biological and chemical weapons

[edit]

Argentina acceded to the Geneva Protocol on May 12, 1969[5] and has been active in non-proliferation efforts, ratifying the Biological Weapons Convention in 1979[6] and the Chemical Weapons Convention on October 2, 1995.[7]

In September 1991 Argentina, together with Brazil and Chile, signed the Mendoza Declaration, which commits signatories not to use, develop, produce, acquire, stock, or transfer—directly or indirectly—chemical or biological weapons.[8]

## Nuclear weapons

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See also: National Atomic Energy Commission and INVAP

Argentina conducted a nuclear weapon research program during the National Reorganization Process regime, in part because of a similar Brazilian program assisted by West Germany.[3] International concern over the possibility of an Argentine nuclear weapons program magnified after the Falklands War in 1982, when the U.S. intelligence community estimated that Argentina could build a nuclear bomb from its civilian nuclear program.[9] Government officials at the time confirmed, in November 1983, that research carried out at the Balseiro Institute's research reactor had yielded the capacity for weapons-grade uranium enrichment.[10] The program was abandoned, however, shortly after the return of democracy, on December 10, 1983. President Raúl Alfonsín placed the nuclear program back under civilian control.[3] The program was also abandoned because Argentina did not have bad relations with Brazil, and because Brazil was wealthier than Argentina and thus more advantaged in an arms race.[11]

After the Brazilian transition to democracy, Argentina and Brazil began cooperating on nuclear non-proliferation.[11] In 1991, the National Congresses of Argentina and Brazil ratified a bilateral inspection agreement that created the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) to verify both countries' pledges to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes. On February 10, 1995, Argentina acceded to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. Argentina continues to use nuclear power in non-military roles, and is noted as an exporter of civilian use nuclear technology.[citation needed]

In 2010, the government announced that it would start working in the creation of a nuclear submarine.[12] This type of submarine uses nuclear power for propulsion. The announcement was highly criticized by politicians from opposing parties.[13]

In accord with three presidential decrees of 1960, 1962 and 1963, Argentina supplied about 90 tons of unsafeguarded yellowcake (uranium oxide) to Israel to fuel the Dimona reactor, reportedly creating the fissile material for Israel's first nuclear weapons.[14]

## See also

[edit]

* Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials
* Brazilian nuclear weapons program
* Huemul Project

## Further reading

[edit]

* Rodríguez, Milagros (2025). "The Expansion of the Argentine Nuclear Program During the Last Dictatorship, 1976–83". Journal of Contemporary History.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Joseph Cirincione; Jon B. Wolfsthal; Miriam Rajkumar (December 2011). Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Threats. Carnegie Endowment. pp. 388–. ISBN 978-0-87003-288-2.
2. ^ Etel Solingen (9 February 2009). Nuclear Logics: Contrasting Paths in East Asia and the Middle East. Princeton University Press. pp. 230–. ISBN 978-1-4008-2802-9.
3. ^ a b c d Cirincione, Joseph; Jon B. Wolfsthal; Miriam Rajkumar (2005). Deadly arsenals : nuclear, biological, and chemical threats (Second ed.). Washington, D.C. ISBN 978-0-87003-288-2. OCLC 823345765.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. ^ Robert E. Dundervill, Jr.; Peter F. Gerity; Anthony K. Hyder; Lawrence H. Luessen (9 March 2013). Defense Conversion Strategies. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 200–. ISBN 978-94-017-1213-2.
5. ^ United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations (1974). Prohibition of Chemical and Biological Weapons: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, Second Session on Ex. J, 91-2 ... Ex. Q. 92-2 ... and S. Res. 48 ... December 10, 1974. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 19–.
6. ^ Jozef Goldblat; Thomas Bernauer (1991). The Third Review of the Biological Weapons Convention: Issues and Proposals : UNIDIR/91/17. United Nations Publications. ISBN 978-92-9045-049-8.
7. ^ Arms Control and Disarmament Quarterly Review. Arms Control and Disarmament Research Unit, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 1995.
8. ^ Jozef Goldblat (18 November 2002). Arms Control: The New Guide to Negotiations and Agreements with New CD-ROM Supplement. SAGE Publications. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-0-7619-4016-6.
9. ^ By JOHN J FIALKA And GERALD F SEIB Staff Reporters of THE WALL,STREET JOURNAL. "Argentina's Nuclear-Weapon Capability is Estimated to be Closer than Thought." Wall Street Journal (1923-), Apr 29, 1982, pp. 6.
10. ^ National Geographic. August 1986. p.243.
11. ^ a b "3 the Varieties of Hedgers: India, Japan, West Germany, Brazil and Argentina, Sweden and Switzerland", Seeking the Bomb, Princeton University Press, pp. 53–126, 2020-12-31, doi:10.1515/9780691223063-005, ISBN 978-0-691-22306-3, retrieved 2022-01-2053-126&rft.date=2020-12-31&rft_id=info:doi/10.1515/9780691223063-005&rft.isbn=978-0-691-22306-3&rft_id=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780691223063-005/html&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Argentina+and+weapons+of+mass+destruction" class="Z3988">
12. ^ Promete Garré que se construirá un submarino nuclear en el país (in Spanish)
13. ^ La oposición, entre las duras críticas y la ironía (in Spanish)
14. ^ "The Israel-Argentina Yellowcake Connection". National Security Archive. George Washington University. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.

## Sources

[edit]

* "The Nuclear Club: Membership has its kilotons". CBC News Online. April 12, 2006. Archived from the original on 14 April 2006. Retrieved 14 April 2006.
* Nuclear Threat Initiative. "Argentina". Archived from the original on 19 April 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2006.

## External links

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* The Woodrow Wilson Center's Nuclear Proliferation International History Project Conference on Brazilian and Argentine Nuclear Programs

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