Non-Proliferation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran must agree to no longer enrich uranium because “the only countries in the world that enrich uranium are the ones that have nuclear weapons,” according to a May 1 State Department interview. “What they’re basically asking is to be the only non-weapon country in the world that’s enriching […]

Brandon Williams, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the National Nuclear Security Administration, advanced onto the Senate Executive Calendar after the Armed Services committee voted “favorably” for him on May 1, according to the congressional website. The committee did not tell the Exchange Monitor what the final tally vote was.  Williams is calendar item No. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said “we should all welcome” the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran in a panel at a conference in Washington Tuesday. “I would say this is a moment, if I have to characterize it, this is a moment which is fraught with opportunity,” […]

Ernest Moniz and Joan Rohlfing, chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Nuclear Threat Initiative respectively, are stepping down from their roles in 2025 with no refills in place yet. According to a Wednesday press release by the Washington-based nonproliferation-focused nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Moniz and Rohlfing messaged the board, staff and partners […]

The United States on Wednesday sanctioned five entities and one individual that it says support entities overseeing Iran’s nuclear program, the State Department said in a press release. The entities sanctioned include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its subordinate Iran Centrifuge Technology Company as part of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on […]

The United States on Wednesday sanctioned five entities and one individual that it says support entities overseeing Iran’s nuclear program, the State Department said in a press release. The entities sanctioned include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its subordinate Iran Centrifuge Technology Company as part of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on […]

Ernest Moniz and Joan Rohlfing, chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Nuclear Threat Initiative respectively, are stepping down from their roles in 2025 with no refills in place yet. According to a Wednesday press release by the Washington-based nonproliferation-focused nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Moniz and Rohlfing messaged the board, staff and partners […]

Amid saber rattling between President Donald Trump and Iran, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Congressional panel recently  Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. Gabbard’s remarks came while testifying at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing March 25. Gabbard said the U.S. Intelligence Community assesses that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and […]

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States. would receive a “strong reciprocal blow” if it commits any military “mischief,” according to a statement Monday. Khamenei’s comments come after President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran if the Islamic Republic did not comply with a nuclear deal, as part of his “maximum pressure” […]

Amid saber rattling between President Donald Trump and Iran, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Congressional panel recently  Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. Gabbard’s remarks came while testifying at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing March 25. Gabbard said the U.S. Intelligence Community assesses that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and […]

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States. would receive a “strong reciprocal blow” if it commits any military “mischief,” according to a statement Monday. Khamenei’s comments come after President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran if the Islamic Republic did not comply with a nuclear deal, as part of his “maximum pressure” […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright recently visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he toured cleanup projects and the Y-12 National Security Complex, a DOE press release said Tuesday. “As a fan of history, this is a critical area for the Manhattan Project, it’s a critical area for winning WWII and it will be a critical […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration partnered with other government agencies to conduct an exercise on how a team would gather evidence to support the president make decisions in a nuclear attack scenario. The Prominent Hunt exercise series, which the recent exercise was part of, took place Jan. 26 to 31 around Schenectady, N.Y., the Pentagon […]

Over the weekend, House Republicans Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) released a seven-month funding patch that would cut non-defense spending, including programs in the Department of Energy, by about $13 billion. The bill could reach the House floor as soon as Tuesday. The 100-page stopgap funding bill, which would need to pass both chambers of Congress […]

At the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors meeting Monday, Director General Rafael Grossi briefed the board on the situations in Ukraine and Iran. Grossi visited Ukraine in February, and said there was “no room for complacency” in his opening statement. He also said that he had visited Iran since the last Board session, […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Mobile Loading Source Recovery Team and Off-site Source Recovery Program completed their 100th shipment of recovered radioactive material in January, the lab announced last week. The two teams travel nationwide to recover potentially harmful radioactive material from devices found at hospitals, universities, and research facilities. The shipment of such material in […]

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill last week with the aim of safeguarding and securing radioactive materials, and reducing the risk of bad actors developing a so-called “dirty bomb.”  The Securing our Radioactive Materials Act, would mandate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to implement recommendations on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from September, […]

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill last week with the aim of safeguarding and securing radioactive materials, and reducing the risk of bad actors developing a so-called “dirty bomb.”  The Securing our Radioactive Materials Act, would mandate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to implement recommendations on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from September, […]

Israel might strike Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025, multiple media outlets reported that U.S. intelligence said. According to Washington Post-reported intelligence reports spanning from the end of the Joe Biden administration and the beginning of the Donald Trump administration, such an attack would set Iran’s nuclear program […]

President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, on a phone call this week, talked negotiations for ending the nearly three-year war Russia waged in Ukraine, media reported. Trump said Thursday that Ukraine would have a seat at the table in peace negotiations, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv’s allies warned against a “dirty […]

President Donald Trump has tapped Scott Pappano and Matthew Napoli to be the National Nuclear Security Administration’s principal deputy administrator and deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, respectively. The nominations require Senate confirmation.  Both Pappano and Napoli were received by the Senate Armed Services Committee Monday. A date for a confirmation hearing for either has […]

President Donald Trump has tapped Scott Pappano and Matthew Napoli to be the National Nuclear Security Administration’s principal deputy administrator and deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, respectively. The nominations require Senate confirmation.  Both Pappano and Napoli were received by the Senate Armed Services Committee Monday. A date for a confirmation hearing for either has […]

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is visiting the Kyivska substation this week in his 11th visit to Ukraine since its war with Russia began. The visit to the substation and to the capital of Ukraine will begin Tuesday Feb. 4, according to the agency’s website. “I’m heading to Kyivska substation, […]

The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic device the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists uses to signify closeness to “global catastrophe,” as of Tuesday is set at the closest it’s ever been to midnight in its 78-year history. “In setting the Clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal,” the Manhattan-era science and global security […]

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump must return to the table and reach “an understanding” with Iran on its nuclear program. “There was an agreement that existed before President Trump decided that it was not the path he wanted to follow,” Grossi said, referring to […]

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump must return to the table and reach “an understanding” with Iran on its nuclear program. “There was an agreement that existed before President Trump decided that it was not the path he wanted to follow,” Grossi said, referring to […]

Representatives from Iran met in Geneva this week with officials from Germany, France and the U.K., the so-called E3 countries, to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, media reported. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said on the website X that conversations with the E3 countries were “serious, frank, and constructive.” Iranian […]

Representatives from Iran were scheduled to meet in Geneva this week with officials from the Germany, France and the U.K., the so-called E3 countries, to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, media reported. According to MSN, the meetings were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 13-14. The meetings come after French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks at a […]

A high-ranking member of a Japanese Yakuza organized crime syndicate pleaded guilty in federal court to crimes including nuclear smuggling, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday.   According to the press release, Takeshi Ebisawa admitted to “brazenly” trafficking nuclear material, including an unspecified quantity of weapons-grade plutonium. Justice unsealed an indictment against Ebisawa nearly a […]

Responding to a 2024 article about the weapons potential of fuel used by some advanced reactors, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration last week said the agency aims to evaluate risks of high-assay low enriched uranium. “It is important that U.S. [advanced and small modular reactor (A/SMR)] designs compete favorably in the global […]