As Trump Seeks New Nuke Options, Weapons Agency Head Warns of Capacity Overload
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
As the Trump administration pushes for the development of new nuclear options, the outgoing head of America’s nuclear warhead agency is warning that his agency is stretched as far as it can go. In an exclusive exit interview, Frank Klotz, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, who retired Jan. 19, told Defense News that his office is stretched as far as it can go—a notable statement, as a leaked draft of the upcoming Nuclear Posture Reviewappears to set the course for the NNSA to launch another nuclear warhead modification project.
Trump's Red Line on North Korea Gets Fuzzier
Uri Friedman | Atlantic
In January 2017, President-Elect Donald Trump tweeted, in response to news that North Korea was close to completing a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States, “It won’t happen!” One year later, in a talk at the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday, Trump’s CIA director went into detail about what precisely the administration means by “it.” Within that definition are the potential triggers for military conflict between two nuclear-armed states, since the Trump administration has threatened to use force against North Korea if its current campaign of diplomatic pressure and economic isolation fails.
We’re as Close to Doomsday Today as We Were during the Cold War
Lawrence Krauss and Robert Rosner | Washington Post
Days after Donald Trump took the oath of office, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reset the Doomsday Clock to 2½ minutes to midnight, in part because of destabilizing comments and threats from America’s new commander in chief. One year later, we are moving the clock forward again by 30 seconds, due to the failure of President Trump and other world leaders to deal with looming threats of nuclear war and climate change. The Science and Security Board for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists assesses that the world is not only more dangerous now than it was a year ago; it is as threatening as it has been since World War II. In fact, the Doomsday Clock is as close to midnight today as it was in 1953, when Cold War fears perhaps reached their highest levels.
The Most Dangerous Aspect of Trump's Nuclear Posture
Michael Krepon | Arms Control Wonk
Concerns about the Trump administration’s “pre-decisional’ draft Nuclear Posture Review have rightly focused on the expanded scope for permissible first use of nuclear weapons, new options for downsizing existing yields, and nuclear-armed cruise missile developments. The first is a mug’s game. Threatening first use when you have more to lose than your adversary is senseless; expanding the scope of threatening first use is even more senseless. The second–significantly downsizing the yield of some Trident warheads—presumes that time sensitivity is crucial when it comes to using nuclear weapons. The opposite has proven to be true time and time again, beginning with the Cuban missile crisis. As for cruise missiles, they are a crucial supplement to U.S. power projection capabilities—when they are usable in conflict, not in Armageddon scenarios.
Senators Get Classified Briefing on America's Nuclear Arsenal
Rebecca Kheel | Hill
The Senate Armed Services Committee received a classified briefing Tuesday on the Pentagon’s soon-to-be-released Nuclear Posture Review. Senators emerging from the briefing were tight-lipped about the contents but spoke generally about the need to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal to deter competitors such as Russia and China.
North Korea Could Set Off Global Nuclear Arms Race, CIA Says
Josh Meyer | Politico
CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the U.S. intelligence community was concerned that a cash-starved and expansionist North Korea could sell its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology to other countries, including Iran, and that failure to uncover such transfers could trigger a global nuclear arms race. Pompeo’s comments came in response to a question about whether Tehran could use its existing cooperation agreements with North Korea to clandestinely advance its own nuclear weapons program without being discovered by the United States or the international enforcers of the 2016 six-party Iran nuclear deal. One option: sending its scientists to Pyongyang to obtain advanced training, or even warhead designs.