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ABSTRACT
This article discusses the main aspects of the Brazilian Navy's nuclear-powered submarine program. It first discusses the Brazilian perception that the restrictions imposed by the world powers related to so-called sensitive technologies are a tool to maintain the status quo and hamper the technological progress of developing countries. The article then focuses on the political, economic, technological, and strategic reasons behind the creation and maintenance of the autonomous nuclear-propulsion submarine program. Next, the article examines strategic aspects of the program and their institutionalization in high-level defense documents, informing Brazil's opposition to adopting additional nonproliferation measures. Finally, it discusses Brazilian policy toward the South Atlantic Ocean and the role of the nuclear-powered submarine. The article seeks to shed light on the main reasons that led Brazil to build and maintain such submarines and maps the program's phases of development.
Notes
1 Armando A. F. Vidigal, A Evolução do Pensamento Estratégico Naval Brasileiro [Evolution of Brazilian Naval Strategic Thought] (Rio de Janeiro: Escola de Guerra Naval, 1982), pp. 123–26.
2 Amado L. Cervo, Inserção Internacional: Formação dos Conceitos Brasileiros [International Insertion: Formation of Brazilian Concepts] (São Paulo: Saraiva. 2008), p. 133.
3 Ministry of External Relations, A Palavra do Brasilnas Nações Unidas 1946-1995 [The Word of Brazil at the United Nations 1946–1995] (Brasília: Fundação Alexandre Gusmão, 1985), pp. 215–24.
4 Ibid., pp. 225–59.
5 João R. Martins Filho, “O projeto do submarino nuclear brasileiro [The Brazilian Nuclear Submarine Project],” Contexto Internacional, July/December, 2011, <www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0102-85292011000200002&script=sci_arttext>.
6 Cervo, Inserção Internacional: Formação dos Conceitos Brasileiros, pp. 132–33.
7 United Nations, “The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: A historical perspective,” 1998, <www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_historical_perspective.htm#HistoricalPerspective>.
8 Brazilian Federal Senate, Decree no. 62.232, “Cria a Comissão Interministerial sobre a Exploração e Utilização do Fundo dos Mares e Oceanos [Creation of the Interministerial Commission on the Exploration and Use of the Seas and Oceans Seabed],” Brasília: Diário Oficial da União, February 7, 1968, <http://legis.senado.leg.br/legislacao/ListaPublicacoes.action?id=117938&tipoDocumento=DEC&tipoTexto=PUB>.
9 Ministry of External Relations, A Palavra do Brasilnas Nações Unidas 1946–1995, p. 240.
10 Presidential decree No. 1098, “Altera o limite do mar territorial e dáoutrasprovidências [Changes to territorial sea limits and other orders],” Brasília, March 25, 1970.
11 Ministry of External Relations, A Palavra do Brasil nas Nações Unidas 1946–1995, p. 267.
12 Ministry of the Navy, Fatos da História Naval, p. 5.
13 Interministerial Commission on Sea Resources, “Welcome!,” n.d., <www.mar.mil.br/secirm/ingles/principal.html>.
14 Therezinha de Castro, Atlântico Sul: Geopolítica e Geoestratégica [South Atlantic: Geopolitics and Geostrategy] (Rio de Janeiro, Escola Superior de Guerra: 1998), pp. 19–21.
15 Ministry of External Relations, A Palavra do Brasilnas Nações Unidas 1946–1995, pp. 299–309.
16 Ibid., pp. 311–19.
17 Ibid., p. 331.
18 National Commission on Nuclear Energy, “Acordo Nuclear Brasil e Alemanha (1975) [Nuclear Agreement Brazil and Germany], n.d., <http://memoria.cnen.gov.br/Doc/pdf/cronologia/ARQ_ACORDO_CPDOC.pdf>.
19 Norman Gall, “Atoms for Brazil, danger for all,” Foreign Policy 23, Summer 1976, pp. 155–201.
20 National Commission on Nuclear Energy, “Acordo Nuclear Brasil e Alemanha.”
21 See “Timeline: The history of NUCLEP as part of the development of the Brazilian Nuclear Program,” Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados (NUCLEP), n.d., <www.nuclep.gov.br/linha-tempo>.
22 “Defense,” NUCLEP, n.d., <www.nuclep.gov.br/defesa>.
23 Text of the Safeguards Agreement of 26 February 1976 Between the Agency, Brazil and the Federal Republic of Germany, INFCIRC/237, May 26, 1976, <www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/infcirc237.pdf>.
24 Federal Republic of Brazil, “Programa Nuclear Brasileiro [Brazilian Nuclear Program],” Brasília, March 1997.
25 Ibid., p. 22.
26 Federal Senate, “CPI do Acordo Nuclear Brasil e Alemanha [Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the Brazil-Germany Nuclear Agreement],” June 25, 1982, <www25.senado.leg.br/web/atividade/materias/-/materia/40104>.
27 Ibid., p. 110.
28 Fernanda das Graças Corrêa, “O projeto do submarino nuclear brasileiro: Uma historia de ciencia, tecnologia, e soberania [Brazil's nuclear submarine project: A history of science, technology, and sovereignty],” (Rio de Janeiro: Capax Dei, 2009), pp. 70–74; National Commission on Nuclear Energy, “Acordo Nuclear Brasil e Alemanha.”
29 E.B. Roth, “Onde a Energia Atômica Daráos Primeiros Resultados [Where Will Atomic Energy Deliver First],” Revista Marítima Brasileira, numbers 10–12, April, May, June 1954, pp. 845–66.
30 Richard G.Hewlett and Francis Duncar, Nuclear Navy (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974), p. 376.
31 Armando Amorim Ferreira Vidigal and Mário César Flores, Desenvolvimento do Poder Naval Brasileiro. Tópicos para o Debate [Brazilian Naval Power Development: Topics for Debate] (Brasília: Estado-Maior da Armada, 1976).
32 The so-called “Lobster War” was a diplomatic crisis involving Brazil and France over the Brazilian government's prohibition on lobster fishing by French fishing boats off the northeast Brazilian coast. The countries sent warships to the region but naval combat did not ensue.
33 Vidigal and Flores, Desenvolvimento do Poder Naval Brasileiro, pp. 78–79.
34 Eddy Sampai Espellet, “Cartas dos Leitores [Letters to Readers],” Revista Marítima Brasileira 129, 2009, p. 202.
35 Ibid.
36 “History,” Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research, n.d., <www.ipen.br/portal_por/portal/interna.php?secao_id=571>.
37 The phenomenon of military emulation is defined as the “deliberate imitation by one state of any aspect of another state's military system that bears upon its own system.” João Resende-Santos, Neorealism, States and the Modern Mass Army (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 9.
38 Admiral Sandy Woodward with Patrick Robson, One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992), pp. 122–24; 146–64.
39 Vera Dantas, “CTMSP: impactos positivos para a região de Iperó [CTMSP: Positive impacts for the Iperó Region],” no 41, 2013 <www.aben.com.br/revista-brasil-nuclear/edicao-n-41/especial_3>.
40 Julio Soares de Moura Neto, “O Programa Nuclear da Marinha [The Brazilian Navy Nuclear Program],” September 12, 2007, <www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/comissoes/comissoes-permanentes/cme/audiencias-publicas/anos-anteriores/2007/12-09-2007-apresentacao-do-programa-nuclear-da-marinha/material/Programa%20Nuclear%20da%20Marinha-Texto.pdf>.
41 Ibid.
42 “Lula anuncialiberação de recursos para o programa nuclear da Marinha [Lula announces release of funds for the Navy's nuclear program,” Folha Online, August 10, 2009, <www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/dinheiro/ult91u310853.shtml>.
43 “Estratégia Nacional de Defesa,” Brazilian Ministry of Defense, December 17, 2008.
44 “Área nuclear: desenvolvimento para o future [The nuclear area: development for the future],” Marinhaem Revista Number 10, June 2014, <www.mar.mil.br/hotsites/marinhaemrevista/junho_2014/index.html>.
45 National Congress, “Livro Branco da Defesa Nacional [National Defense White Paper],” Legislative Decree no. 373/2013, p. 68, <www.scribd.com/doc/104866394/Livro-Branco-Da-Defesa-Nacional#scribd>.
46 Almirante Carlos Passos Bezerril, “O Centro Technológico da Marinhaem São Paulo [The Navy Technological Center in São Paulo],” Boletim Informativo no. 55, 2014.
47 Julio Soares de Moura Neto, “A importância da construção do submarine de propulsão nuclear brasileiro [The importance of building the Brazilian nuclear propulsion submarine],” Techno News, April/May 2009, pp. 20–22, <www.mar.mil.br/7dn/comsocial/ComandanteMarinha.pdf>.
48 José A. A. Fragelli, “Marinha do Brasil-COGESN,” Seminário Amazônia Azul [Blue Amazon Seminar], <www.seminarioamazoniaazul.com.br/>.
49 Amazonia Azul Technologias de Defesa S.A, “Sobre a Amazul,” n.d., <www.marinha.mil.br/amazul/empresa/sobre-a-amazul>.
50 André Luis Ferreira Marques, Director of the Navy Technological Center in São Paulo, email correspondence with the author Antônio Ruy de Almeida Silva, January 27, 2016.
51 Agreement Between the Republic of Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials, and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Applications of Safeguards, p. 6, <www.abacc.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Acordo-Quadripartite-ingl%C3%AAs.pdf>.
52 Julio Soares de Moura Neto, “A importância da construção do submarino de propulsão nuclear brasileiro [The importance of constructing the Brazilian nuclear-propulsion submarine],” Defesa Aérea & Naval, <www.defesaaereanaval.com.br/a-importancia-da-construcao-do-submarino-de-propulsao-nuclear-brasileiro/>.
53 “Lula anuncia liberação de recursos para o programa nuclear da Marinha [Lula announces release of funds for the Navy's nuclear program],” Folha Online, August 10, 2009, <www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/dinheiro/ult91u310853.shtml>.
54 “Política Nacional de Defesa [National Defense Policy],” Ministry of Defense, Brasília, 2012, pp. 17–23.
55 Ibid., pp. 25, 32.
56 “National Strategy of Defense,” Ministry of Defense, 1st edition, December 17, 2008, p. 8.
57 Ibid., pp. 41–44.
58 Ibid., pp. 12.
59 Ibid., p. 34.
60 Ibid., pp. 33.
61 Ibid., p. 20.
62 Ibid., p. 21.
63 United Nations General Assembly, “Declaration of a zone of peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic,” A/RES/41/11, October 27, 1986; Antonio Aguiar de Patriota, Speech at the VII Ministerial Meeting of ZOPACAS, <www.itamaraty.gov.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4547:vii-reuniao-ministerial-da-zona-de-paz-e-cooperacao-do-atlantico-sul-zopacas-texto-base-do-discurso-do-ministro-antonio-de-aguiar-patriota-montevideu-15-de-janeiro-de-2013&catid=194&Itemid=454&lang=pt-BR>.
64 Agência Nacional de Petróleo, “Produção de Petróleo e Gás no Pré-sal tem aumentoem novembro [Oil and Gas production increased in November],” 2015 <http://petromaxx.com/portal/?p=12288>.
65 Brazilian Navy, A Amazônia Azul: Patrimônio Brasileiro No Mar [The Blue Amazon: Brazilian patrimony in the sea], n.d., <http://goo.gl/8DN5MK>.
66 International Seabed Authority, “Isa and Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais of Brazil Sign Exploration Contract,” Jamaica, November 9, 2015, <www.isa.org.jm/news/isa-and-companhia-de-pesquisa-de-recursos-minerais-brazil-sign-exploration-contract>.
67 Castro, Atlântico Sul: Geopolítica e Geoestratégica [The South Atlantic: Geopolitics and Geostrategy] (Rio de Janeiro: Escola Superior de Guerra, 1998).
68 Ministry of External Relations, A Palavra do Brasilnas Nações Unidas 1946-1995, p. 444.
69 “Montevideo Declaration,” Seventh Ministerial Meeting of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, <http://osf.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Montevideo-Declaration-Seventh-Ministerial-meeting-of-the-Zone-of-Peace-and-Cooperation-of-the-South-Atlantic.pdf>.
70 Ibid.
71 Antonio Aguiar Patriota, speech at the Seventh Ministerial Meeting of ZOPACAS.
72 “Montevideo Declaration,” p. 5.
73 Antônio Ruy de Almeida Silva,“O Atlântico Sul na Perspectiva da Segurança e da Defesa [The South Atlantic from a security and defense perspective],” in Reginaldo Mattar Nasser and Rodrigo Fracalossi de Moraes, eds., O Brasil e a Segurança no seu Entorno Estratégico. América do Sul e Atlântico Sul (Brasília: Ipea, 2014).
74 Celso Amorim, “Conversas com jovens diplomatas [Conversation with young diplomats],” São Paulo, Benvirá, 2011, p. 490.
75 “Montevideo Declaration,” p. 5.
76 Armando Amorim Ferreira Vidigal, A evolução do pensamento estratégico naval brasileiro-meados da década de 70 atéos diasatuais [The Evolution of Brazilian Strategic Naval Thought—from the seventies to today] (Rio de Janeiro: Clube Naval, 2002), p. 18.
77 Daniel Gallo, “Promete Garré que se construirá un submarine nuclear en el país [Garré promises that a nuclear submarine will be built in the country],” La Nacion, June 4, 2010, <www.lanacion.com.ar/1271651-promete-garre-que-se-construira-un-submarino-nuclear-en-el-pais>.
78 Agreement Between the Republic of Argentina and the Federative Republic of Brazil for the Exclusively Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy. Guadalajara, México, 18 July 1991<www.abacc.org.br/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Bilateral-Agreement.pdf>.
79 Antônio Ruy de Almeida Silva e Mariana Oliveira do Nascimento Plum, “Nuclear Disarmament and Proliferation: Can we get the genie back into the bottle?,” World Politics of Security (Rio de Janeiro: Konrad–Adnauer-Stifung, 2015). <www.kas.de/wf/doc/17310-1442-5-30.pdf>.
80 Toghzan Kassenova, Brazil's Nuclear Kaleidoscope: An Evolving Identity, (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2014), pp. 29–34; Andrea de Sá, “Brazil's Nuclear Submarine Program,” Nonproliferation Review 22 (March 2015), pp. 15–19; Paul Taylor, “Why does Brazil need nuclear submarines?,” Proceedings, June 2009, <www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2009-06/why-does-brazil-need-nuclear-submarines>.
81 This historic message was sent by the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, on January 17, 1955, to announce the success of the program. We are using in the text in a symbolic way.