Non-Proliferation

Foreign ministers representing the Group of Seven (G7) countries this week expressed their support for existing arms control agreements and suggested a gradual approach toward achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world. At the end of their meeting in Lucca, Italy, the diplomats from the G7 – consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, […]

Foreign ministers representing the Group of Seven (G7) countries met this week in Lucca, Italy, to discuss global security issues, releasing a statement that supported existing arms control agreements and suggested a gradual approach toward achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world. The G7 – consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, and Japan […]

The new diplomatic push at the United Nations to establish a global prohibition on nuclear weapons could undermine the path laid out under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to one day rid the world of such armaments, a senior U.S. diplomat said this week. “A ban treaty will come at enormous cost to the NPT political […]

The nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia continue to fluctuate as the two countries work to meet the terms of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), according to the latest aggregate data released Monday by the U.S. State Department. The bilateral accord requires each country by next February to cap its […]

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said Tuesday he is “reviewing” the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, underscoring the Defense Department’s focus on addressing Russia’s violation of the 1987 accord. U.S. officials in February said Russia has deployed a ground-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile with two battalions in breach of the treaty, which […]

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said Tuesday he is “reviewing” the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, underscoring the Defense Department’s focus on addressing Russia’s violation of the 1987 accord. U.S. officials in February said Russia has deployed a ground-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile and that the administration plans potential responses to the […]

The nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia continue to fluctuate as the two countries work to meet the terms of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), according to the latest aggregate data Monday from the U.S. State Department. The 2010 bilateral accord requires each country by next February to cap its […]

The head of U.S. military forces in Europe said Tuesday the United States should do more to bring Russia back into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty; former U.S. officials on Thursday then discouraged a “tit-for-tat” response and gave their own suggestions to the new administration. The Trump administration has determined that Russia is […]

The United Nations General Assembly this week began substantive negotiations on a draft of a legally binding global prohibition on nuclear weapons, which the official nuclear-weapon states condemned and boycotted. Elayne Whyte Gomez, ambassador of Costa Rica to the U.N. Office in Geneva and president of the ban treaty conference, said Thursday that over 115 states […]

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up on news affecting the U.S. nuclear deterrent during […]

The head of U.S. military forces in Europe said Tuesday the United States should do more to bring Russia back into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Trump administration has determined that Russia is in material breach of the treaty, which prohibits the U.S. and Russia from fielding ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles […]

The United Nations General Assembly began negotiations Monday on a legally binding global prohibition on nuclear weapons. The official nuclear-weapon states were among roughly 40 nations to boycott the conference on its first day. “As a mom, as a daughter, there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons,” […]

In a message that was fundamentally preordained, the Trump administration on Thursday officially made clear that it opposes a treaty for a global ban on nuclear weapons, which will be debated next week at the United Nations. “We recently met with Ambassadors about the upcoming conference to establish a treaty banning nuclear weapons,” U.S. Ambassador […]

U.S. and international officials are wrestling with the question of what the State Department funding cuts the White House proposed last week would mean for U.S. diplomacy worldwide. In the fiscal 2018 budget blueprint released last week, the White House requested $25.6 billion in base funding for the State Department, or 28 percent less than […]

The Trump administration is reconsidering every piece of U.S. nuclear arms policy – even the broad end goal of global nuclear disarmament – in its upcoming Nuclear Posture Review, a senior National Security Council official said Tuesday. “We’re being encouraged . . . to do a real honest-to-God, bottom-up review, to rethink things from the […]

The international community is concerned about the future of arms control, particularly the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) – issues that featured prominently during this week’s Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The INF Treaty prohibits the fielding of ground-based cruise and ballistic […]

The international community is concerned about the future of arms control, particularly the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) – issues that featured prominently on the first day of the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The INF Treaty prohibits Russia and the United […]

The vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Wednesday that Russia has deployed a land-based cruise missile in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and that the Pentagon’s upcoming Nuclear Posture Review will cover options for a U.S. response. Air Force Gen. Paul Selva said at a House Armed Services […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency is finalizing its nuclear security plan for the next four years, Director General Yukiya Amano said Monday at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting being held all week in Vienna, Austria. The Board of Governors, one of the agency’s policy-making bodies, meets five times per year to develop recommendations on […]

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up on news affecting the U.S. nuclear deterrent during […]

The vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Wednesday that Russia has deployed a land-based cruise missile in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and that the Pentagon’s upcoming Nuclear Posture Review will cover options for a U.S. response. Air Force Gen. Paul Selva said at a House Armed Services […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency is finalizing its nuclear security plan for the next four years, Director General Yukiya Amano said Monday at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting being held all week in Vienna, Austria. The Board of Governors, one of the agency’s policy-making bodies, meets five times per year to develop recommendations on […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved the export of up to 144 kilograms of nuclear weapon-grade uranium to Belgium. The fuel elements, enriched to 93.2 percent, would be used to reload the Belgian Reactor No. 2 at the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d’Etude de l’Energie Nucléaire (SCK-CEN). The regulator, though, ruled that the license issued […]

President Donald Trump’s apparent preference for U.S. nuclear might over stockpile reductions does not necessarily preclude the United States and Russia from reaching a deal to extend the New START accord – or even sealing an all-new arms control plan, experts said. During his campaign and in the early weeks of his presidency, Trump has […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the export of up to 144 kilograms of nuclear weapon-grade uranium to Belgium. The fuel elements, enriched to 93.2 percent, would be used to power Belgian Reactor No. 2 at the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d’Etude de l’Energie Nucléaire (SCK-CEN). The regulator, though, ruled that the license issued to Washington, […]

The United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding nuclear weapons prohibition will begin its session next month in New York. The conference held its first organizational meeting last week, where it adopted a draft provisional agenda and elected Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica as conference president. The U.N. General Assembly First Committee voted […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. […]

Another group has announced its opposition to the anticipated shipments of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from a Canadian laboratory to the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The Iroquois Caucus, a Canada-based coalition of seven First Nation communities, said in a prepared statement Wednesday it is “unanimously condemning a plan to truck 23,000 liters of highly […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. […]

The United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding nuclear weapons prohibition will begin its session next month in New York. The conference held its first organizational meeting last week, where it adopted a draft provisional agenda and elected Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica as conference president. The U.N. General Assembly First Committee voted […]