Confronting Plutonium Nationalism in Northeast Asia
Fumihiko Yoshida | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Although President Obama trumpeted his commitment to nuclear disarmament at this year’s Washington Nuclear Security Summit and more recently during his visit to Hiroshima, the White House has so far only discussed in whispers a far more pressing nuclear weapons-related danger—that Japan and China may soon be separating thousands of nuclear bombs worth of plutonium from nuclear spent fuel each year. If this level of production occurs, South Korea and other countries will likely try to go the plutonium route. If President Obama is to have a lasting legacy of nuclear threat reduction, his administration needs to do far more than it has to clarify just how harmful this plutonium proliferation would be to keeping peace in East Asia and the world.
U.S., Japan, South Korea Conduct Joint Missile Drill
Prashanth Parameswaran | Diplomat
The United States, Japan, and South Korea conducted a joint missile-tracking drill off Hawaii this week as part of their ongoing trilateral engagement in the face of North Korean aggression. Pacific Dragon is a trilateral ballistic missile defense (BMD) tracking event between the United States Navy, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, and the Republic of Korea Navy. The exercise focuses on improving coordination among participants in several related areas, including the detection, tracking, and reporting of ballistic targets.
Members' Concerns Delayed India's NSG Chances: Rafael Grossi
Suhasini Haidar | Hindu
India’s chances of NSG membership at Seoul were delayed after concerns raised by several members on process, outgoing NSG Chairman Rafael Grossi tells in an exclusive interview to The Hindu over telephone from Vienna.
Financing Nuclear Modernization: Tough Decisions for the Next President
Walter Pincus | Cipher Brief
The next president, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, will have to make hard decisions about whether to go ahead with the current, enormously costly, U.S. nuclear weapons modernization plan, though neither has spoken about it, nor have they been seriously questioned about it. It may be just too complex for a presidential campaign, but it will be one of the first serious policy and budget decisions that the new president will face after taking office.
Rediscovering Diplomacy: An Agenda for Decreasing Tensions Between Russia and the West
Ulrich Kühn | War on the Rocks
As NATO moves closer to its July summit in the Polish capital of Warsaw, calls are increasing in Western capitals for NATO to re-engage in dialogue with Russia and seek mutual measures of restraint. In the foreword to a new report on relations between Russia and the West, former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry writes: Today, dialogue and restraint are needed more than ever since the end of the Cold War. In order to prevent misperceptions, miscalculations, and the potential return of a costly arms race, both Washington and Moscow have to rediscover the instruments of diplomatic dialogue, military-to-military exchanges, and verifiable arms control.
Bangladesh Moves Forward With Rooppur
World Nuclear News
Just days after the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) issued the first site licence for the Rooppur nuclear power plant, the country's cabinet has approved the draft of an intergovernmental agreement that will see Russia provide $11.38 billion in credit for the project.