Non-Proliferation

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The United States will attend December’s Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which will highlight the far-reaching, catastrophic effects that nuclear explosions could cause, the State Department announced late last week. The State Department statement underscored U.S. efforts to work toward the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons, […]

The United States will attend December’s Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which will highlight the far-reaching, catastrophic effects that nuclear explosions could cause, according to a Nov. 7 State Department announcement. The statement underscored U.S. efforts to work toward the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons, but rejected the notion of negotiating […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Federal charges of extortion and conspiracy charges were filed late last week against a Russian official working for a TENEX subsidiary and executives of the firm Transport Logistics International in relation to kickbacks for transportation contracts tied to the ‘Megatons to Megawatts’ program. TENEX contracted with TLI starting in 1996 […]

Brian Bradley and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Russia is boycotting the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for the United States, dealing a blow to President Obama’s efforts to strengthen the security of nuclear materials. The 2016 summit is expected to be the fourth and final summit, where representatives from more than 50 countries and […]

NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, joined to the lineup of speakers for the seventh annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit scheduled for Feb. 17-20 in Washington, D.C. Kislyak will give a keynote speech to kick off the seventh annual gathering of weapons complex, Pentagon, State Department and industry officials. Also […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Concluding a historic 69th annual session, the UN First Committee this week wrapped up its annual voting on nuclear and conventional disarmament nonbinding draft resolutions, pushing through an agreement that calls for bringing nuclear disarmament under “strict and effective” international control, and another resolution that urges the UN General Assembly […]

Concluding a historic session, the UN First Committee on Tuesday wrapped up its annual voting on nuclear and conventional disarmament nonbinding draft resolutions, pushing through an agreement that calls for bringing nuclear disarmament under “strict and effective” international control, and another resolution that urges the UN General Assembly to call for negotiations by the Conference […]

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Russian representatives unexpectedly did not attend a Monday planning meeting for the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, It remains unclear whether Russia " intended to boycott the summit itself or was just temporarily showing displeasure over Washington’s harsh condemnation of Moscow’s role in Ukraine unrest and the U.S. lead in […]

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland filed extortion and conspiracy charges Friday against a Russian official working for a TENEX subsidiary and executives of the firm Transport Logistics International in relation to kickbacks for Megatons to Megawatts transport contracts. TENEX contracted with TLI starting in 1996 to ship highly enriched uranium from […]

During its third day of voting on nuclear and conventional disarmament initiatives, the United Nations First Committee on Friday forwarded 28 draft resolutions to the General Assembly, including a resolution urging all states to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and another containing the Hague Code of Conduct, which expresses concern about the increasing regional and […]

Amb. Adam Scheinman today begins a five-day trip to South America to discuss initiatives of the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference (RevCon), according to a Friday State Department announcement. Scheinman will visit with South American government officials in Santiago, Buenos Aires and Brasilia, Brazil, from Nov. 3 to Nov. 7 to discuss initiatives of […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 U.S. arms control advocates and nuclear deterrence experts alike are attaching little importance to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent calls for further arms control reductions, with some suggesting that the statements were largely an effort to improve Russia’s global image and political standing. “I think Russia is feeling some pressure […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 The United States should participate in the upcoming Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, scheduled to be held in Vienna in early December, more than two dozen arms control advocates, nuclear policy experts, former U.S. government officials and leaders of peace and security organizations said in a letter sent […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 The United States unsuccessfully opposed a draft resolution calling for steps to reduce the high-alert status of nuclear weapon systems during a meeting of the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly. The United States also voted against a resolution welcoming U.N. Secretary-General consideration of a range of views on […]

More than two dozen arms control advocates, nuclear policy experts, former U.S. government officials and leaders of peace and security organizations yesterday issued a letter to three top Obama Administration officials, calling for U.S. participation in the Dec. 8-9 Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna. Addressed to National Security Advisor Susan […]

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns on Feb. 4, will take over as the president of The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the organization yesterday announced in a press release. After an 18-year tenure, current Carnegie President Jessica Tuchman Mathews will turn over her post to Burns, according to the release. Burns, who has served […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said late last week that Moscow is interested in negotiating further nuclear arms reductions, potentially signaling a change in Russia’s arms control posture. According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Putin made the comments Friday during a speech at the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, Russia. “We insist on […]

NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 Gov’t Responds in Appeal by Convicted Y-12 Protesters Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Theodore, who prosecuted the trio of elderly peace activists that broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July 2012, is countering their appeal and arguing that their actions were indeed worthy of the sabotage charges brought against them. The […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 The British government is set to renew the UK-U.S. Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA), which would authorize the bilateral exchange of nuclear materials, technology and information for another 10 years if approved by both countries, according to an Oct. 20 document submitted from UK’s International Affairs and Defence Section to the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 In a continued effort to drum up support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller this week urged attendees of several different events at colleges in Utah and Massachusetts to spread word of the agreement’s merits and the benefits of […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 Efforts to move action on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty into international humanitarian law circles could divert attention from implementing the 2010 NPT Action Plan, and the United States would not endorse any new proposal for a nuclear disarmament outside its own plans, Amb. Robert Wood, alternate representative of the Delegation […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 With six months remaining until the scheduled 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, advocates of the treaty this week called on the five main nuclear-weapon states (P5) to implement the 64-point 2010 NPT Review Conference Action Plan more quickly, as P5 states have moved sluggishly to implement key parts of […]

In a continued effort to drum up support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller on Tuesday urged attendees of an address at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah, to spread word about the agreement’s merits and the benefits of ratifying it. “We need […]

The United Kingdom government has drafted an extension to the UK-US Mutual Defense Agreement (MDA), which would renew the treaty and re-enable the bilateral exchange of nuclear materials, technology and information for another 10 years if approved by both countries, according to an Oct. 20 document submitted from the UK’s International Affairs and Defence Section […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Stockpiled nuclear material around the world continues to be a nuclear security threat, and the international community should not wait on the U.S. and Russia to strengthen nuclear material verification measures, Corey Hinderstein of the Nuclear Threat Initiative told attendees of a State Department-hosted briefing at U.N. headquarters this week. […]

N.M. Nuke Activist Group Hires Fired LANL Nonproliferation Expert NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Jim Doyle, the Los Alamos National Laboratory nonproliferation expert who has alleged he was fired based on an the publication of an article supporting nuclear abolition, has signed on to work with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nuclear activist group based in Santa Fe, […]

Jim Doyle, the Los Alamos National Laboratory nonproliferation expert who has alleged he was fired based on an the publication of an article supporting nuclear abolition, has signed on to work with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nuclear activist group based in Santa Fe, N.M. Doyle has alleged that he was fired this summer because […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Calling the current state of the U.S.-Russia relationship “one of the worst in bilateral history, not only since the Cold War,” former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said this week that the two nations should restore dialogue on the mutual disarmament of nuclear weapons. During an Oct. 6 event in […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 A new U.S.-Vietnam civil nuclear agreement fully entered into force last week after an exchange of diplomatic notes Oct. 3 that finalized the deal. Notably, the agreement has raised questions from some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle because it lacks legally binding restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing, known […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 While negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty have been deadlocked in the U.N. Conference on Disarmament (CD) since 2011, nuclear expert and Princeton professor Zia Mian said this week that U.S. Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty could initiate a path forward for a future agreement. “It would […]