Non-Proliferation

The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which plays a key role in preventing nuclear smuggling by monitoring cargo arriving at U.S. ports of entry, is understaffed and faces challenges in properly screening incoming high-risk shipments, according to witnesses at a House Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing Thursday. Todd […]

Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, has been appointed as the next NATO deputy secretary general, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday. Gottemoeller is set to replace Alexander Vershbow, a veteran U.S. ambassador who has served in the NATO position since 2012, the statement said. Gottemoeller will begin her […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sent the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine an emergency shipment worth approximately $2.3 million after 29 radiation portal monitors were destroyed in Ukraine in fighting between the government and separatists. NNSA spokeswoman Francie Israeli offered more details by email after a June 17 Government Accountability Office report highlighted the destroyed […]

Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, has been appointed as the next NATO deputy secretary general, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday. Gottemoeller is set to replace former Alexander Vershbow, a veteran U.S. ambassador who has served in that position since 2012, the statement said. Gottemoeller will begin her […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sent the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine an emergency shipment worth approximately $2.3 million after 29 radiation portal monitors were destroyed in Ukraine in fighting between the government and separatists. NNSA spokeswoman Francie Israeli offered more details by email after a June 17 Government Accountability Office report highlighted the destroyed […]

The fighting between the government of Ukraine and separatists that began in 2014 resulted in the destruction of 29 radiation portal monitors worth $3.9 million that were provided by the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency said this week. The NNSA has no plans to replace these monitors, which are among 84 installed […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is inviting national and international businesses to participate in preventive radiological and nuclear detection equipment vendor rodeo and capability demonstration events throughout the year, according to a notice posted this week. Each vendor will give a closed-door briefing of technical capabilities and showcase technologies with law enforcement and […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Monday that his country will ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) when the time is right, although he did not offer specifics on those circumstances. Following a meeting Monday in Jerusalem with Lassina Zerbo, executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization, Netanyahu’s office released a statement […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) program cannot adequately measure its progress because of shortcomings in its program plan involving the articulation of goals and performance measures, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Friday. The NSDD program installs large-scale radiation detectors at border crossings, seaports, […]

Congress is reviewing a proposed agreement for cooperation between the United States and Norway on peaceful uses of nuclear energy that President Barack Obama approved last week in a presidential memorandum. The U.S. has signed nuclear cooperation deals – or 123 agreements – with a number of countries for technical exchanges, research, and other activities, […]

More than 120 delegations met this week at a ministerial meeting to call for global ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), a treaty that several key countries – notably the United States – have yet to ratify, even while calling for others to do so. Despite the “domestic political obstacles” hindering U.S. ratification of […]

Officials from the United States and Armenia on Monday conducted a review of the nations’ bilateral Joint Action Plan on Combatting Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said in a statement. The Joint Action Plan was signed in 2008 through the U.S. State Department’s Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative, which has […]

A U.S. citizen has pleaded guilty to conspiring to export specialty metals from the United States to Iran, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday. Erdal Kuyumcu, CEO of Woodside, N.Y.-based company Global Metallurgy, faces sentencing in the Eastern District of New York of up to 20 years in […]

A senior U.S. State Department official on Monday called upon a remaining handful of countries to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) despite the United States’ failure to do so. Despite the “domestic political obstacles” hindering U.S. ratification of the treaty, the CTBT is in the nation’s national security interest and “it is incumbent upon […]

Officials from the United States and Armenia on Monday conducted a review of the nations’ bilateral Joint Action Plan on Combatting Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said in a statement. The Joint Action Plan was signed in 2008 through the U.S. State Department’s Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative, which has […]

President Barack Obama has approved a proposed agreement for cooperation between the United States and Norway for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, according to a presidential memorandum issued Friday. The U.S. has signed nuclear cooperation agreements – or 123 agreements – with a number of countries for technical exchanges, research, and other activities, provided […]

A top adviser to President Barack Obama on Monday cited a lack of Russian engagement as a major obstacle in fulfilling the administration’s nonproliferation and arms control initiatives. Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said at the Arms Control Association’s annual meeting that the administration fell short of the goals outlined […]

The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday approved legislation requiring the Homeland Security Department’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) to prepare documentation laying out the rationale for its research and development spending. The DHS branch is tasked with working with domestic and international partners to strengthen global capacities to detect, prevent, respond to, and identify the culprits […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week received a new license application for export of U.S. highly enriched uranium to a research reactor in Belgium. A copy of the June 3 document has been posted online. It cites the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee as the supplier of just over 134 […]

Nuclear material from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Fast Critical Assembly reactor has arrived to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Savannah River Site (SRS) and Y-12 National Security Complex, the NNSA announced Monday. The shipment from Japan included highly enriched uranium that was sent to Y-12 in Tennessee to be eventually converted into low-enriched […]

A draft resolution opposing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to receive U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany for processing and disposition in Environmental Management facilities at the Savannah River Site (SRS) drew several public comments of support Tuesday during a SRS Citizens Advisory Board committee meeting. The proposal from the board’s Nuclear Materials […]

House Republicans on Thursday released a policy paper recommending an approach to U.S. foreign policy that prioritizes the nation’s nuclear deterrent, greater efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and a robust U.S.-NATO alliance. The policy agenda offers Congress and the president 67 recommendations developed by the Task Force on National […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors on Tuesday adopted new safety standards the U.N. organization says emphasize senior management roles at nuclear facilities in protecting human life, health, and the environment from radiation risks. “The safety standards are a cornerstone for nuclear and radiation safety, and they have to be updated to reflect developments,” IAEA […]

The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday approved legislation requiring the Homeland Security Department’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) to prepare documentation laying out the rationale for its research and development spending. The DHS branch is tasked with working with domestic and international partners to strengthen detect, prevent, respond to, and identify the culprits in an attack […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Wednesday that it recently convened its fourth Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Science Council meeting in Washington, D.C. The meeting addressed the work of the council’s task forces on cyberthreats, foreign travel risk management, and nonproliferation training effectiveness, according to an NNSA statement. The meeting also addressed joint […]

The Savannah River Site (SRS) Citizens Advisory Board’s Nuclear Materials Committee unveiled Tuesday a resolution opposing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to receive U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany for processing and disposition at the South Carolina facility. The draft position document supports a “No Action” alternative to a potential HEU shipment to […]

A top adviser to President Barack Obama on Monday cited a lack of Russian engagement as a major obstacle in fulfilling the administration’s nonproliferation and arms control initiatives. Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said at the Arms Control Association’s annual meeting that the administration fell short of the goals outlined […]

Nuclear material from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Fast Critical Assembly reactor has arrived to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Savannah River Site and Y-12 National Security Complex, the NNSA announced Monday. The NNSA recently decided to prepare plutonium from Japan for disposition at Savannah River and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in […]

Despite President Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security policy, the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile reductions and warhead dismantlements have slowed under his administration, according to updated stockpile numbers declassified last week by the Department of Defense. The U.S. stockpile consisted of 4,571 active and reserve nuclear weapons at […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said last week it in May hosted at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) an on-site inspection activity for Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) inspection experts. CTBT experts from over 30 countries visited NNSS for three days to study nuclear explosive test indicators and other field experimental operations at […]