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The 1st Nuclear Draft Ban is Out

IN THIS ISSUE: The 1st Nuclear Draft Ban is Out, North Korea Missile Test Seen as Step to Put U.S. in Range, China Says Unchanged on India's Nuclear Suppliers Group Bid Ahead of Meet, Trump Admin Sanctions Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program, Swiss Vote in Favor of Gradual Nuclear Phaseout, Trump to Nominate Three to Nuclear Commission

Published on May 23, 2017

The 1st Nuclear Draft Ban is Out

Jon Wolfsthal

The president of the negotiations for a nuclear weapons ban convention has just released her first draft of the proposed treaty. As will become readily apparent, I am not an expert on international law, but I am a keenly-interested observer of the effort to negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons. I am also an admitted ban skeptic, not because I want to keep nuclear weapons but because I have am concerned the ban diverts scarce resources and attention from readily-identified blockages to nuclear reduction and elimination.

North Korea Missile Test Seen as Step to Put U.S. in Range

Nafeesa Syeed and Anthony Capaccio | Bloomberg

North Korea moved one step closer to its “inevitable” goal of developing a long-range, nuclear-armed missile to directly threaten the U.S. through a successful test this month, according to the Pentagon’s intelligence service. The regime in Pyongyang “successfully launched” a ballistic missile during a test May 13 from western North Korea, landing in the Sea of Japan, Marine Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in prepared remarks for a hearing on worldwide threats Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It was the first public U.S. intelligence assessment of the May 13 launch.

China Says Unchanged on India's Nuclear Suppliers Group Bid Ahead of Meet

Ananth Krishnan | India Today

China said today its stand on India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was "unchanged" ahead of the group's plenary session to be held next month. "China's position on the non-NPT [countries that have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty] members' participation in the NSG has not changed," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press briefing, when asked about India's application ahead of a plenary scheduled to be held next month in Switzerland.

Trump Admin Sanctions Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program

Adam Kredo | Washington Free Beacon

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it is sanctioning several entities in connection with Iran’s ballistic missile program, which the U.S. intelligence community estimates could be used to carry nuclear weapons over great distances, according to an announcement by the Treasury Department.

Swiss Vote in Favor of Gradual Nuclear Phaseout

Deutsche Welle

Switzerland held a referendum on Sunday on the government's planned transition from the nuclear power provided by the country's aging reactors to renewable energy sources. The majority of voters supported the shift, with 58.2 percent voting in favor of the referendum, according to the final tally. Only four of Switzerland's 26 cantons votes against the overhaul to renewables.

Trump to Nominate Three to Nuclear Commission

Timothy Cama | Hill

President Trump is planning to nominate three commissioners to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). If confirmed by the Senate, the nominees would bring the NRC to its full slate of five commissioners and avoid the potential that the body, now with only three members, would lose a commissioner and lack a quorum in July.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.