Non-Proliferation

As the United Nations’ Conference on Disarmament begins its 2016 session, one nonproliferation expert doubts the likelihood of significant progress in the body’s long-stalled arms control negotiations. The multilateral forum, which held its first public plenary meeting of the year last week, faces a stalemate of almost two decades due to a lack of consensus […]

The U.S. State Department last Wednesday hosted a Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) meeting in which midlevel officials from the United States and 70 partner states gathered to discuss collective nonproliferation efforts. More than 100 PSI member states have committed to taking actions to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. At the meeting, participating governments […]

Highly enriched uranium (HEU) minimization in civilian research reactors is more difficult and progressing more slowly than previously expected, according to a study released last week by a National Academies of Science committee. The study said the timeline for global HEU elimination in civilian reactors and reactor conversions to low-enriched uranium will be “dramatically expanded” compared […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/29/2016 The private sector should do more to promote nuclear security by developing voluntary consensus standards to reduce the risk of terrorism and cyberattacks against nuclear power plant facilities, according to a report released Thursday by the Stimson Center. The report said existing international oversight mechanisms cannot adequately protect nuclear facilities […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/29/2016 Members of an advisory board to the Savannah River Site this week shared their concerns on the site possibly receiving 1 million graphite spheres containing highly enriched uranium from German research reactors. The SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) received an update Tuesday on the potential transfer of the material that […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/29/2016 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for a violation involving the improper export of uranium to Jamaica as part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation program. According to the notice of violation, the shipment of low-enriched uranium to Jamaica last […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/29/2016 The United Nations’ Conference on Disarmament held its first public plenary of the 2016 session this week in Geneva, Switzerland. Kim Won-soo, acting U.N. high representative for disarmament affairs, read a declaration emphasizing the urgency of reducing nuclear stockpiles from the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the year’s opening […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/29/2016 The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ symbolic Doomsday Clock remains set at three minutes to midnight, representing a lack of progress in preventing global annihilation, the publication’s Science and Security Board announced Tuesday. The clock envisions an apocalyptic scenario as midnight, and since 1947 its minute hand has been adjusted […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/29/16 Top officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union convened last week in Vienna, Austria, where officials vowed to strengthen cooperative efforts on international nuclear safety, waste management, decommissioning, and emergency preparedness and response. IAEA Chief Coordinator Cornel Feruta said during the senior officials meeting that frequent […]

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ symbolic Doomsday Clock remains set at three minutes to midnight, representing a lack of progress in preventing global annihilation, the publication’s Science and Security Board announced Tuesday. The clock envisions an apocalyptic scenario as midnight, and since 1947 its minute hand has been adjusted 21 times to reflect changes […]

The United Nations’ (UN) Conference on Disarmament is holding its first public plenary of the 2016 session today in Geneva, Switzerland. Kim Won-Soo, acting U.N. high representative for disarmament affairs, will read a declaration from the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the session of the multilateral arms control negotiating forum, the U.N. said. The […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/22/2016 A draft environmental assessment (EA) from the Department of Energy finds minimal risk in a possible, heatedly contested plan for the Savannah River Site to receive and process highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany. The Department of Energy reported Friday that completion of the draft EA does not constitute a decision […]

Chris Schneidmiller NS&D Monitor 1/22/2016 The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Tuesday will update the minute hand of its famous Doomsday Clock, alerting the world to a greater, easing, or possibly unchanged threat of global annihilation. Last January, the clock was moved from five minutes to midnight to three minutes, which the Bulletin linked […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/22/2016 Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose on Tuesday commemorated the re-establishment of a secure communications link between the United States and Ukraine. The Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NRRC) government-to-government connection is intended to support “certain notification requirements of arms control and confidence building agreements and commitments,” the State Department said.  Originally […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/22/2016 The United States and Japan continue to work together in the areas of nonproliferation, deterrence, and disarmament, U.S. and Japanese officials said last Thursday at the Center for American Progress. Jon Wolfsthal, the National Security Council’s senior director for arms control and nonproliferation, said the U.S.-Japan partnership to counter weapons […]

Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose on Tuesday commemorated the re-establishment of a secure communications link between the United States and Ukraine. The Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NRRC) government-to-government connection is intended to support “certain notification requirements of arms control and confidence building agreements and commitments,” the State Department said. The U.S. and Ukraine will […]

The United States and Japan continue to work together in the areas of nonproliferation, deterrence, and disarmament, U.S. and Japanese officials said last Thursday at the Center for American Progress. Jon Wolfsthal, the National Security Council’s senior director for arms control and nonproliferation, said the U.S.-Japan partnership to counter weapons of mass destruction involves “nonproliferation […]

A draft environmental assessment (EA) from the Department of Energy finds minimal risk in a possible, heatedly contested plan for the Savannah River Site to receive and process highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany. The Department of Energy reported Friday that completion of the draft EA does not constitute a decision to accept the HEU, which […]

A draft environmental assessment (EA) from the Department of Energy finds minimal risk in a possible, heatedly contested plan for the Savannah River Site to receive and process highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany. The Department of Energy reported Friday that completion of the draft EA does not constitute a decision to accept the HEU, which […]

Livermore Scientists Develop Method to Analyze Nuclear Material Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a new mathematical method to evaluate nuclear material by analyzing fission chains, the lab announced late last month. Mathematical tools help reveal the “mass and geometric properties” of unknown material by exploiting the neutron and gamma ray […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/15/2016 Russia will not participate in the upcoming and final Nuclear Security Summit due to the event’s “drastically altered” concept of international nuclear security cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this week. The summit, to be held in Washington, D.C., on March 31, will bring together international partners to discuss […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/15/2016 Global progress on nuclear security has slowed in recent years, according to a new report that assesses the status of nuclear material security worldwide and the threat of nuclear terrorism. The Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative’s (NTI) 2016 Nuclear Security Index found highly enriched uranium and plutonium security measures have not […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/15/2016 The United States and Jordan signed an agreement Monday to work together to combat nuclear terrorism, the State Department announced. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh signed the Joint Action Plan “to improve efforts against nuclear and radiological smuggling,” the State Department […]

DOE Releases Draft Enviro Assessment on Material Shipment from Germany The Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday released a draft environmental assessment on the potential impact of accepting, processing, and disposing of irradiated graphite pebble fuel elements from Germany containing thorium and U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) at the Savannah River Site. The DOE will […]

Russia will not participate in the upcoming and final Nuclear Security Summit due to the event’s “drastically altered” concept of international nuclear security cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday. The summit, to be held in Washington, D.C., on March 31, will bring together international partners to discuss nuclear terrorism prevention and offer country […]

The United States and Jordan signed an agreement Monday to work together to combat nuclear terrorism, the State Department announced. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh signed the joint  action plan “to improve efforts against nuclear and radiological smuggling,” the State Department said. The plan seeks to […]

Frank Rose, the State Department’s assistant secretary for arms control, verification, and compliance, is traveling in Europe to meet with foreign officials on arms control and related topics. The State Department announced Friday that Rose will meet with senior government officials in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy until Jan. 18 “for bilateral discussions on […]

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a new mathematical method to evaluate nuclear material by analyzing fission chains, the lab announced late last month. Mathematical tools help reveal the “mass and geometric properties” of unknown material by exploiting the neutron and gamma ray bursts emitted by special nuclear materials, the lab […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/8/2016 The United States will host a Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) meeting this month in Washington, D.C., to “examine changes in the proliferation and interdiction landscape” and “identify specific areas where PSI states can further focus their efforts,” according to the Department of State. The Jan. 27 conference, to be hosted […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/8/2016 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) touted its progress on infrastructure modernization projects, international nonproliferation activities, and other technical and administrative work in a report released last week on the agency’s major achievements during 2015. The agency highlighted its completion of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) site readiness subproject at […]