International

The U.S. Congress is taking a preliminary tit-for-tat approach to addressing Russia’s breach of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, calling in new legislation for the Defense Department to start work on its own middle-range missile. There have been reports for years that Russia was in violation of the 1987 treaty signed by the United States […]

There were strong objections on both sides of the border this week to a planned nuclear waste repository near Lake Huron in Canada, even as the facility took another step toward possible regulatory approval. Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) said Tuesday it has accepted as complete the latest data tranche from provincial utility Ontario Power Generation […]

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and other Midwest lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee used a Wednesday markup for legislation on U.S. nuclear waste storage to argue against Canada storing its own waste near Lake Huron. Ontario Power Generation is waiting on approval from the Canadian government to build a repository 680 meters below […]

Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) said Tuesday it has accepted as complete the latest data tranche from a utility regarding a planned geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste from three nuclear power plants. The agency requested the information on April 5, and Ontario Power Generation responded with a 144-page document on May 26. Upon […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said Friday it has removed two jurisdictions from the list of communities being considered to house a deep geologic repository for the nation’s spent reactor fuel. The Ontario communities of White River Township and the municipality of Central Huron are out, according to an NWMO press release. They join […]

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation that would employ increased sanctions to persuade Russia to come back into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. But Smith’s bill might already be too limited a step for the panel, where one subcommittee mark of the fiscal 2018 […]

Voters in the South Australian town of Kimba indicated they want their community to remain in consideration to host a storage facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. In a postal vote officially concluded last Wednesday, 698 residents and landholders answered this question: “Do you support a nomination for a site being progressed to Phase […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions said last week it has picked up its first nuclear remediation contract in Canada. The nuclear cleanup services branch of French waste management group has been selected to design, build, and commission a system for remediation of intermediate- and low-level waste stored at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ shuttered Whiteshell Laboratories in Manitoba. The […]

The Donald Trump administration’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense faced a rocky confirmation hearing Tuesday, probed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) about his stance toward Russian activity abroad and within an arms control agreement with the United States. Specifically, Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan said in responses to advance questions that […]

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is calling for the Defense Department to develop a ground-launched cruise missile within the range covered by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, while conditioning further arms control with Russia on resolution of INF violation issues. The subcommittee on Thursday held its markup of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, […]

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is calling for the Defense Department to develop a ground-launched cruise missile within the range covered by Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, while conditioning further arms control with Russia on resolution of INF violation issues. The INF Treaty prohibits Russia and the United States from fielding ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles with […]

The Donald Trump administration’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense faced a rocky confirmation hearing Tuesday, probed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) about his stance toward Russian activity abroad and within an arms control agreement with the United States. In one of several exchanges with McCain, Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan reaffirmed […]

Nuclear nonproliferation is the most promising area for cooperation between Russia and the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week. Opportunities for cooperation include, “above all, control over non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” Putin said during the annual Direct Line event broadcast on June 15. “We are the biggest nuclear powers and so our […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions said last week it has picked up its first nuclear remediation contract in Canada. The nuclear cleanup services branch of French waste management group has been selected to design, build, and commission a system for remediation of intermediate- and low-level waste stored at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ shuttered Whiteshell Laboratories in Manitoba. The […]

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday resumed negotiations on a legally binding global prohibition on nuclear weapons. The body released at the end of May its first draft of the ban treaty, which details prohibitions on the use, production, transfer, and testing of such weapons. The second round of negotiations will continue until July […]

More than 40 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed a letter to President Donald Trump calling for his administration to reinforce its role in arms control and bolster its nonproliferation efforts as it prepares a Nuclear Posture Review. The June 13 letter, signed by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee […]

The future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty continues to weigh on top U.S. military officials as they consider options for responding to Russia’s violation of the bilateral agreement. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s budget posture that […]

The future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty continues to weigh on top U.S. military officials as they consider options for responding to Russia’s violation of the bilateral agreement. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s budget posture that […]

More than 40 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed a letter to President Donald Trump calling for his administration to reinforce its role in arms control and bolster its nonproliferation efforts as it prepares a Nuclear Posture Review. The June 13 letter, signed by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee […]

The United Nations General Assembly is resuming this week negotiations on a legally binding global prohibition on nuclear weapons. The body released at the end of May its first draft of the ban treaty, which details prohibitions on the use, production, transfer, and testing of such weapons. Negotiations resume from June 15 to July 7, […]

A shipment of radioactive waste from a nuclear cleanup site in Scotland was sent over the weekend to the U.S. Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, on its way to Tennessee, the Scottish Sunday Post newspaper reported. The radioactive waste was loaded onto a U.S. Air Force cargo plane and took off from Scotland on […]

A bipartisan group of 32 members of the House of Representatives this week asked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for an assist in the fight against a planned nuclear waste disposal site near Lake Huron in Canada. The letter to the Trump administration’s top diplomat was spurred by new reporting from Canadian utility Ontario Power […]

The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) convened its biannual plenary meeting last week in Tokyo, Japan, where partner nations committed to continue the work of three nuclear detection, forensics, and response working groups. The initiative, co-chaired by the United States and Russia, is intended to promote international cooperation to strengthen global prevention, detection, […]

A shipment of radioactive waste from a nuclear cleanup site in Scotland was sent over the weekend to the U.S. Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, on its way to Tennessee, the Scottish Sunday Post newspaper has reported. The radioactive waste was loaded onto a U.S. Air Force cargo plane and took off from Scotland […]

A top National Security Council official last week reaffirmed the Donald Trump administration’s commitment to nonproliferation. Despite media reports to the contrary, Trump is committed to pursuing activities to prevent the spread of nuclear and other unconventional weapons, according to Christopher Ford, NSC special assistant to the president and senior director for weapons of mass […]

The United States is months ahead of schedule in meetings its obligations to cap the U.S. nuclear arsenal under the bilateral New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, according to a top Air Force official. Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said Wednesday at a Senate Armed Services strategic forces […]

The United States is months ahead of schedule to meet its obligations in capping the U.S. nuclear arsenal under the bilateral New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, according to a top Air Force official. Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said Wednesday at a Senate Armed Services strategic forces […]

A shipment of radioactive waste from a nuclear cleanup site in Scotland was sent over the weekend to the U.S. Energy Department’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., Scottish newspaper Sunday Post reported. The radioactive waste was loaded onto a U.S. Air Force cargo plane and took off from Scotland on Saturday, the paper said, adding […]

The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism convened its biannual plenary meeting last week in Tokyo, Japan, where partner nations committed to continue the work of three nuclear detection, forensics, and response working groups. The U.S. State Department shed more light on the meeting’s proceedings Friday in an announcement. The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear […]

A top National Security Council administration official on Friday reaffirmed the Donald Trump administration’s commitment to nonproliferation, defending the president’s nuclear policy approach at the Arms Control Association annual meeting. Christopher Ford, special assistant to the president and senior director for weapons of mass destruction and counterproliferation for the National Security Council, said Friday that […]