Internet of Nuclear Things: Managing the Proliferation Risks of 3-D Printing Technology

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Internet of Nuclear Things: Managing the Proliferation Risks of 3-D Printing Technology

IN THIS ISSUE: Internet of Nuclear Things: Managing the Proliferation Risks of 3-D Printing Technology, The Nuclear Posture Review and Russian ‘De-Escalation:’ A Dangerous Solution to a Nonexistent Problem, Revealed: The Details of China's Latest Hit-To-Kill Interceptor Test, Iran Says May Withdraw from Nuclear Deal if Banks Continue to Stay Away, Russia Releases Video of its Modernized Ballistic Missile Defense System, Why Trump Might Bend Nuclear Security Rules to Help Saudi Arabia Build Reactors in the Desert

Published on February 22, 2018

Internet of Nuclear Things: Managing the Proliferation Risks of 3-D Printing Technology

Wyatt Hoffman and Tristan Volpe | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Over the next decade, the spread and maturation of additive manufacturing could challenge major control mechanisms for inhibiting nuclear proliferation. At the same time, the cyber-physical nature of this production technology creates the potential for the emergence of an Internet of Nuclear Things, which could be harnessed to increase the information visibility of dual-use activities in civil nuclear programs. This new capability could offer unique opportunities to mitigate proliferation risks and augment traditional methods of regulating and monitoring sensitive nuclear technologies. But barriers stand in the way of leveraging an Internet of Nuclear Things–notably, political issues related to information access and integrity. As additive manufacturing technology matures, government and industry stakeholders should adopt a strategic approach toward an evolving Internet of Nuclear Things–an approach that would include principles to encourage transparency within the Internet of Nuclear Things and ensure the integrity of the information it produces.

The Nuclear Posture Review and Russian ‘De-Escalation:’ A Dangerous Solution to a Nonexistent Problem

Olga Oliker and Andrey Baklitskiy | War on the Rocks

There is a growing certainty in the West that Russia has adopted an “escalate to de-escalate” nuclear strategy, which lowers the bar for nuclear weapons use to a terrifyingly low level. Importantly, it’s referenced as fact in the Trump administration’s new Nuclear Posture Review , which argues that the United States itself therefore needs new low-yield nuclear weapons to deter Russia at lower levels of conflict. But the evidence of a dropped threshold for Russian nuclear employment is weak. Moreover, even if this was Russia’s doctrine, a shift to more American reliance on lower-yield nuclear weapons would be the wrong solution to the problem.

Revealed: The Details of China's Latest Hit-To-Kill Interceptor Test

Ankit Panda | Diplomat

The Chinese ballistic missile defense test that took place on February 5 involved a Dong Neng-3 (DN-3/KO09) hit-to-kill midcourse interceptor successfully striking a target DF-21 (CSS-5) medium-range ballistic missile, The Diplomat has learned from a U.S. government official with knowledge of China’s weapons programs. The interceptor in the test was launched from the Korla Missile Test Complex, in China’s Xinjiang province. China has been conducting tests of the DN-3 interceptor since 2010. The system’s target capabilities are analogous to U.S. Standard Missile-3 midcourse interceptors, but it has yet to be successfully tested against an intermediate-range or intercontinental-range-class target. (The DN-3 is also thought to be physically much larger than the U.S. SM-3 series of missiles.)

Iran Says May Withdraw from Nuclear Deal if Banks Continue to Stay Away

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin | Reuters

Iran will withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal if there is no economic benefit and major banks continue to shun the Islamic Republic, its deputy foreign minister said on Thursday. Under the deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions that have crippled its economy.

Russia Releases Video of its Modernized Ballistic Missile Defense System

Matthew Bodner | Defense News

On Feb. 12, the Russian Defence Ministry posted a video on its website showing the white desolation of the Kazakh steppes in winter. Suddenly, a bright red and grey plume erupted from the snow and arced away from the camera, off into the horizon. Details were scant, but the video claimed to show the successful test of a new Russian ballistic missile interceptor. The interceptor was launched from the Sary-Shagan test site in Kazakhstan, which Russia leases. In a ministry statement, the deputy commander of Russia’s air defense forces, Col. Andrei Prikhodko, describes the system as a “new modernized anti-missile system” that completed its assigned tasks with “the specified accuracy.”

Why Trump Might Bend Nuclear Security Rules to Help Saudi Arabia Build Reactors in the Desert

Steven Mufson | Washington Post

Next month, Saudi Arabia will announce the finalists of a sweepstakes. The prize? Multibillion-dollar contracts to build a pair of nuclear power reactors in desolate stretches of desert along the Persian Gulf. For Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the reactors are a matter of international prestige and power, a step toward matching the nuclear program of Shia rival Iran while quenching some of the kingdom’s domestic thirst for energy.

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.

Internet of Nuclear Things: Managing the Proliferation Risks of 3-D Printing Technology