Non-Proliferation

The Donald Trump administration on Thursday nominated current White House counterproliferation adviser Christopher Ford to be assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation. If confirmed by the Senate, Ford would lead State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation: the arm of Foggy Bottom tasked with preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, […]

The Donald Trump administration intends to nominate current White House counterproliferation adviser Christopher Ford as assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, the White House announced Tuesday. If subsequently nominated and confirmed by the Senate, Ford would lead State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation: the arm of Foggy Bottom tasked with preventing […]

The House and Senate will soon hash out their differences on a fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would sustain a major nonproliferation construction project in South Carolina and call for development of a new intermediate-range missile. The House and Senate each passed differing versions of the bill this summer, and the Senate […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is working with New York City and the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative on a new program intended to prevent terrorists from acquiring material for “a radiological dispersal device,” or dirty bomb. The partnership helps academic and medical institutions in the city replace devices that use radiological materials with X-ray technology, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is working with New York City and the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative on a new program intended to prevent terrorists from acquiring material for “a radiological dispersal device,” or dirty bomb. The partnership helps academic and medical institutions in the city replace devices that use radiological materials with X-ray technology, […]

Iran committed multiple violations of a 2015 nuclear nonproliferation agreement intended to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon, President Donald Trump said Friday. Breaches of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) included Iran twice exceeding the amount of heavy water it is allowed to possess under the deal, according to Trump. Heavy […]

Days before President Donald Trump was expected to decertify Iran’s compliance with a 2015 nuclear nonproliferation agreement, the White House tapped longtime House Foreign Affairs Committee staffer Yleem D. S. Poblete to be assistant secretary of state, verification and compliance. The White House announced the nomination online. Poblete spent almost 20 years on the House […]

Days before President Donald Trump was expected to decertify Iran’s compliance with a 2015 nuclear nonproliferation agreement, the White House tapped longtime House Foreign Affairs Committee staffer Yleem D. S. Poblete to be assistant secretary of state, verification and compliance. The White House announced the nomination online. Poblete spent almost 20 years on the House […]

The Russian Federation sharply cut its number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads over the past six months, putting the nuclear power within 11 warheads of meeting its disarmament obligations under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the U.S. State Department said Monday. The bilateral treaty, known as New START, requires the U.S. and Russia to […]

The Government Accountability Office said the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should draft tighter life-cycle cost and schedule estimates for its nonproliferation programs: something the Energy Department’s semiautonomous nuclear-weapon agency said is difficult to do, given the nature of the work. The NNSA should “require DNN [Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation] programs and subprograms to follow life-cycle […]

The Trump administration threw signal after signal this week that it could walk away from an international agreement aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — a deal the president’s own secretary of defense said is good for U.S. national security. The Washington Post reported Thursday that President Donald Trump plans to decertify Iran’s compliance […]

A Swiss anti-nuclear group that advocated for a United Nations ban on nuclear weapons this summer received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) “is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for […]

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would not say Wednesday whether the State Department believes the United States should remain party to an international agreement aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Speaking a day after Secretary of Defense James Mattis told lawmakers that remaining in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was in […]

The United States would benefit from remaining part of an international agreement to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in congressional testimony on Tuesday. However, the top Pentagon official warned the U.S. might walk away from the accord anyway. President Donald Trump has roundly criticized the Joint Comprehensive […]

The Russian Federation sharply cut its number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads over the past six months, putting the nuclear power within 11 warheads of meeting its disarmament obligations under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the U.S. State Department said Monday. The bilateral treaty, known as New START, requires the U.S. and Russia to […]

The Government Accountability Office said the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should draft tighter life-cycle cost and schedule estimates for its nonproliferation programs: something the Energy Department’s semiautonomous nuclear-weapon agency said is difficult to do, given the nature of the work. The NNSA should “require DNN [Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation] programs and subprograms to follow life-cycle […]

In a 10-9 vote Tuesday, the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) took a stance against the Energy Department facility’s potential receipt of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany. The decision, which included two abstentions, will now elevate to DOE headquarters for consideration. The Energy Department three years ago announced potential plans for the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said it helped South Africa on the road to producing a medical isotope using low-enriched uranium instead of weaponizable highly enriched uranium. The conversion effort wrapped up in August, allowing the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s NTP Radioisotopes SOC to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 without highly enriched uranium, […]

A Japanese newspaper reported the United States and Japan are preparing to extend a longstanding bilateral nuclear-cooperation agreement, which the U.S. State Department would neither confirm nor deny Monday. Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday the Japanese and U.S. governments were “making arrangements to enable the automatic extension” of thei agreement. which was signed in 1988 and set to expire […]

In a 10-9 vote Tuesday, the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) took a stance against the Energy Department facility’s potential receipt of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany. The decision, which included two abstentions, will now elevate to DOE headquarters for consideration. The Energy Department three years ago announced potential plans for the South Carolina site […]

A Japanese newspaper reported the United States and Japan are preparing to extend a longstanding bilateral nuclear-cooperation agreement, which the U.S. State Department would neither confirm nor deny Monday. Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday the Japanese and U.S. governments were “making arrangements to enable the automatic extension” of thei agreement. which was signed in 1988 and set […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said it helped South Africa on the road to producing a medical isotope using low-enriched uranium instead of weaponizable highly enriched uranium. The conversion effort wrapped up in August, allowing the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s NTP Radioisotopes SOC to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 without highly enriched uranium, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday it returned the final tranche of highly enriched uranium from a Kazakh reactor to the material’s point of origin in Russia. The U.S. stockpile steward and nonproliferation agency said in a press release it worked with Kazakhstan’s Institute of Nuclear Physics to repatriate the weapon-grade uranium from the […]

A treaty to ban nuclear weapons garnered 51 signatures from United Nations member states this week after it became eligible Wednesday for signing, despite strong objections of the body’s nuclear-armed nations. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which not a single nuclear-armed U.N. member supports, must be ratified by 50 nations to enter […]

A treaty to ban nuclear weapons garnered 50 signatures from United Nations member states Wednesday, the first day it was eligible for signing, despite strong objections of the body’s nuclear-armed nations. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which not a single nuclear-armed U.N. member supports, must be ratified by 50 nations to enter into […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday it returned the final tranche of highly enriched uranium from a Kazakh reactor to the material’s point of origin in Russia. The U.S. stockpile steward and nonproliferation agency said in a press release it worked with Kazakhstan’s Institute of Nuclear Physics to repatriate the weapon-grade uranium from the […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday Approved $790 million for nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs for 2018: a high-water mark for the State Department account that includes international nuclear nonproliferation efforts. The Senate recommendation is about 60 percent more than what the White House requested for the account in 2018 as part of a […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday Approved $790 million for nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs for 2018: a high-water mark for the State Department account that includes international nuclear nonproliferation efforts. The Senate recommendation is about 60 percent more than what the White House requested for the account in 2018 as part of a […]

Szuhsiung Ho, a nuclear engineer and naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan, was sentenced Thursday to a prison term and a fine for conspiring to help the Chinese government produce unauthorized nuclear materials using U.S. expertise, the Justice Department said. Ho received a two-year prison sentence and a year of supervised release, plus a $20,000 […]

Szuhsiung Ho, a nuclear engineer and naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan, was sentenced Thursday to a prison term and a fine for conspiring to help the Chinese government produce unauthorized nuclear materials using U.S. expertise, the Justice Department said. Ho received a two-year prison sentence and a year of supervised release, plus a $20,000 fine […]