International

United States and Russian tensions over Ukraine are threatening to spill over into arms control efforts by the two countries. According to Russian news reports, Russia is considering disallowing nuclear weapons inspections that are part of arms control treaties with the United States, including the New START Treaty, in response to potential U.S. sanctions against […]

The next step in the Canadian government’s procurement for a contract to manage Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s nuclear laboratories began late last week, as Natural Resources Canada put out a Request for Response Evaluation on the government’s Government Electronic Tendering Service. The RFRE is aimed at suppliers who are interested in participating in the […]

The Senate will vote today on the nomination of Rose Gottemoeller to be the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security after it voted yesterday to cut off debate on her nomination. The 55-45 vote yesterday  to invoke cloture and set up today’s confirmation vote came in spite of repeated Republican opposition […]

After delays because of snowy weather in Washington, D.C., the Senate could take up the nomination of Rose Gottemoeller, the Obama Administration’s nominee for Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, in the coming days. Gottemoeller’s nomination has languished in the Senate for more than a year, but Senate Majority Leader Harry […]

Three new members have joined the Board of the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority after being appointed by the U.K Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the NDA announced yesterday. Ken McCallum, previously the NDA’s Shareholder Executive’s Director, has been appointed as a non-executive director. Peter Lutwyche, the new Sellafield Programme Director, has been […]

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) pushed the Obama Administration to take a harder stance against Russia’s alleged violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, suggesting that not treating the violation as a “red line” reduces U.S. credibility among its allies. “I think that should be very concerning to all of us,” Rubio said at a Heritage […]

An Obama Administration official said yesterday that the Senate was informed of a possible issue involving Russian compliance with an arms control treaty in the fall of 2010, several months before the Senate cleared the New START Treaty. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Brian McKeon, President Obama’s nominee to be Principal Deputy Under […]

President Obama yesterday signed a new civil nuclear agreement with Vietnam that has raised questions because of a lack of legally binding restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing, according to reports. The deal with Vietnam that was finalized last October has instead a nonbinding commitment from Vietnam to rely on existing fuel services rather than developing […]

Brian McKeon, the Obama Administration’s nominee to be the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is likely to face tough questions from Republicans at his confirmation hearing Tuesday on what is believed to be Russian violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. In a Feb. 20 letter to McKeon, Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and […]

The next step in the Canadian government’s procurement for a contract to manage Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s nuclear laboratories is still experiencing delays. There had been some expectation that the Request for Response Evaluation, the next step in the process, would be issued last week, but that proved premature as the government continues to […]

Rose Gottemoeller, the acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, emphasized late last week that a review of potential Russian cheating on a key arms control treaty had not been concluded. Speaking at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit Friday, Gottemoeller said a “very active compliance review process” was ongoing and that the […]

President Obama yesterday signed into law a two-year extension to current civil nuclear agreement with South Korea, which now will be set to expire on March 19, 2016. The extension was needed because the Administration and Korea needed more time to work out sensitive issues, including potential restrictions on reprocessing and enrichment technologies, before the […]

Questioning the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s decision last fall to extend for five years URS-led Nuclear Management Partners’ contract to clean up the Sellafield site, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee released a report today demanding additional improvements. “The Authority must monitor progress and terminate the contract if NMP’s performance does not improve quickly. We want the […]

A report on progress at Sellafield by the U.K. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee is expected to be made public this week, according to The Guardian. The report would come after a PAC hearing in December in which committee members sharply questioned the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s recent decision to extend for five years Nuclear Management Partners’ […]

Mike McFaul is resigning as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia and leaving the Obama Administration after the Sochi Olympics, he said yesterday. McFaul has served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia since 2011, spearheading diplomatic relations with Russia during a volatile time period. Relations with Russia in recent years have grown tense over a variety […]

A pair of key State Department arms control nominees were cleared by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday. Rose Gottemoeller, the President’s nominee to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, and Frank Rose, Obama’s pick to be Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance, were cleared by the committee […]

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to vote today on the nomination of two key State Department nominees. The committee delayed a vote on Rose Gottemoeller and Frank Rose last month over concerns about a lack of commitment from the Administration to only undertake further nuclear weapons reductions through the treaty process. Gottemoeller is […]

After Sellafield’s radiation monitoring system detected elevated levels Thursday night, non-essential workers were told to stay home Friday at the U.K. site. “Overnight the monitoring system initially indicated elevated levels of activity. Following investigation and analysis, we can now confirm these levels to be naturally occurring background radon,” according to a statement Friday from Sellafield […]

Stymied by the Russians on another round of arms control talks, the Obama Administration should accelerate reductions called for in the New START Treaty and push for ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty to help keep up the momentum for his nuclear security agenda, an arms control expert with the Brookings Institution said late last […]

The Senate passed a bill yesterday to allow a two-year extension of the current civil nuclear agreement with South Korea. The Administration has asked Congress pass a simple two-year extension of the deal, which expires in March, to allow for time to work out remaining issues including requirements related to enrichment and reprocessing. The House […]

In a stern warning to Congress against additional Iran sanctions, President Obama drew on the Administration’s arms control and nuclear security record to bolster the case for American diplomacy with Iran in his State of the Union address last night. “American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into […]

Stymied by the Russians on another round of arms control talks, the Obama Administration should accelerate reductions called for in the New START Treaty and push for ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty to help keep up the momentum for his nuclear security agenda, an arms control expert with the Brookings Institution said late last […]

The Senate passed a bill yesterday to allow a two-year extension of the current civil nuclear agreement with South Korea. The Administration has asked Congress pass a simple two-year extension of the deal, which expires in March, to allow for time to work out remaining issues including requirements related to enrichment and reprocessing. The House […]

In a stern warning to Congress against additional Iran sanctions, President Obama drew on the Administration’s arms control and nuclear security record to bolster the case for American diplomacy with Iran in his State of the Union address last night. “American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/2/2014 GE this week submitted a $16.9 billion offer to purchase the thermal, renewables and grid businesses of Alstom. The offer consists of $13.5 billion enterprise value and $3.4 billion of net cash. Alstom’s board backs the deal, and has appointed a committee of directors to review the transaction. The […]

Mike Nartker GHG Monitor 3/28/2014 A Canadian not-for-profit group has begun seeking to help provide funding support for projects in the Canadian province of Alberta intended to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC) is offering to provide a total of $65 million, with a maximum of $25 million […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 Southern Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese state-owned mining and energy company Shenhua Group to share research relative to technologies being used at its Kemper County Energy Facility in Mississippi. Kemper has been touted as a beacon in the clean coal community due, in large part, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 While the development of a full-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration facility at Mongstad was cancelled by the Norwegian government last September, research continues at the Technology Centre Mongstad, with plans for further expansion in the near future, Tore Amundsen, CEO of Gassnova said during a briefing at the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 The Australian government late this week issued a white paper outlining a new approach to addressing climate change—the Direct Action Plan—that would include a proposed Emissions Reduction Fund. The proposed ERF will work in a series of “reverse auctions” in which companies will be paid to volunteer to reduce […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 The European Investment Bank has completed the second and final round of emissions allowance sales under the New Entrants Reserve (NER) 300 program, reportedly raising approximately €548 million from the sale of 100 million allowances. The first 200 million allowances were sold from 2011 to 2012 and generated €1.5 […]