South Africa comes clean

Journal Article · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; (United States)

OSTI ID:6477398

Albright, D ^[1]

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1. Inst. for Science and International Security, Washington, DC (United States)

South African President F. W. de Klerk made headlines on March 24 when he admitted to a joint session of parliament that South Africa had once had a supply of nuclear weapons; six of seven planned devices had been completed. South African spokesmen had previously said that Pretoria was capable of building weapons, but they had remained deliberately vague about whether or not any had been built. According to de Klerk, the weapons were dismantled before South Africa signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on July 10, 1991. De Klerk's revelation came in response to charges by the African National Congress and U.S. government officials that South Africa had possibly hidden atomic bomb components and manufacturing plants and that it had been evasive about its stockpile of weapon-grade uranium. A more complete discussion of de Klerk's disclosure and events leading to the admission are explored in this article.

• OSTI ID: 6477398
• Journal Information: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; (United States), Journal Name: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; (United States) Vol. 49:4; ISSN BASIAP; ISSN 0096-5243
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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