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At Summit, U.S. and Russia Agree on Nuclear Terrorism Threat

IN THIS ISSUE: US and Russia agree on nuclear terrorism threat, US confirms effort to phase out selected 'dirty bomb' materials, Japan lets US assume control of a nuclear cache, Turkey to eliminate HEU, Pentagon halts ICBM assessment, world leaders fear Ukraine crisis will harm nuclear cooperation.

Published on March 25, 2014

At Summit, U.S. and Russia Agree on Nuclear Terrorism Threat

Fredrik Dahl | Reuters

World leaders called on countries on Tuesday to cut their use and their stocks of highly enriched nuclear fuel to the minimum to help prevent al Qaeda-style militants from obtaining material for atomic bombs. Winding up a third nuclear security summit since 2010, this one overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis, 53 countries - including the United States and Russia at a time of high tension between them - agreed much headway had been made in the past four years.

U.S. Confirms Effort to Phase Out Selected 'Dirty Bomb' Materials

Douglas P. Guarino | Global Security Newswire

U.S. officials confirmed on Monday that they will launch an effort to help limit the prospect of "dirty bomb" attacks by working to phase out certain radiological materials.

Japan Lets U.S. Assume Control of a Nuclear Cache

Michael D. Shear and David E. Sanger | New York Times

Japan announced on Monday that it would turn over to Washington a large cache of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium, a decades-old research stockpile that is large enough to build dozens of nuclear weapons, according to American and Japanese officials.

Turkey to Eliminate Highly Enriched Uranium

Tolga Tanis | Hürriyet Daily News

After Turkey and Japan signed an agreement for a nuclear plant construction last year, it was speculated that Ankara could now have access to HEU which could be used in the production of nuclear weapons.

Pentagon Halts ICBM Assessment

Jenn Rowell | Great Falls Tribune

A defense official said there were conflicting provisions in the law related to the ICBM assessment and have halted it pending further legal review, though DOD officials said the department believes it has the authority to conduct the assessment.

World Leaders Fear Ukraine Crisis Will Harm Nuclear Cooperation

Julian Borger | Guardian

"The debate over withdrawing nuclear weapons from European Nato air bases is over for the foreseeable future," George Perkovich, the director of the nuclear policy programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed. 

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.