Iran Sanctions Could Tighten if Nuclear Talks Fade, Biden Admin Officials Tell Senators
Andrew Desiderio | POLITICO
Biden administration officials assured senators at a Wednesday classified briefing that the U.S. would ramp up sanctions on Iran if needed as hopes dim for a diplomatic pathway on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to attendees. The assurances came as lawmakers in both parties press the Biden administration to articulate a backup plan that could prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. U.S. officials had worked for months to revive the Obama-era denuclearization agreement with Tehran that Donald Trump ripped up in 2018, but the last of those discussions happened in March, one top lawmaker said.
North Korea Expands Work at Nuclear Test Site to Second Tunnel -Report
Josh Smith | Reuters
North Korea appears to be expanding work at its nuclear test site to include a second tunnel, a U.S.-based think tank said on Thursday, as South Korean and U.S. officials say North Korea might conduct a nuclear test any day. Preparation work at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility’s Tunnel No. 3 was apparently complete and ready for a possible nuclear test, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report, citing commercial satellite imagery. North Korea conducted six underground nuclear tests at the site from 2006 to 2017.
South Korea Looks to Nuclear Expansion in Bid to Meet Climate Targets
Heesu Lee | Bloomberg
South Korea will expand the role of nuclear energy in order to meet its climate target. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s new government will increase the portion of atomic power in the energy mix to meet its emissions reductions goal, or Nationally Determined Contribution, it said Thursday. It will maintain the target set by the previous administration to cut emissions by 40% from 2018 levels by 2030. Yoon, who took office on May 10, touted nuclear energy throughout his presidential campaign, claiming it should be included in the country’s net-zero path along with renewable sources. If the country kept former President Moon Jae-in’s nuclear phase-out plans and decarbonization policies, the cost of electricity could jump fivefold from current levels by 2050, Yoon’s office said in April.
New AUKUS Caucus Bill Calls for U.S.-Australia Sub Training Pipeline
Mallory Shelbourne | USNI News
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would help the Royal Australian Navy train its future submarine warfare officers with U.S. sailors. Dubbed the “The Australia-U.S. Submarine Officer Pipeline Act,” the legislation would allow Australia to send at least two of its submarine warfare officers to train with American sailors each year. The Royal Australian Navy officers would first attend the Navy Nuclear Propulsion School, then take the Submarine Officer Basic Course, and finally deploy aboard a U.S. submarine after finishing the basic course, according to text of the bill.
British Submariners’ Emails Put U.K. Nuclear Deterrent at Risk, Judge Rules
Thomas Newdick | The Drive
An affair between two U.K. Royal Navy officers serving on nuclear submarines threatened the security of the country’s nuclear deterrent, according to the judge at a military court. The two individuals have both been formally discharged from the navy and have received suspended prison sentences. Details of the 2020 incident were made public following a recent court-martial. The two officers, Lt. Sophie Brook and Lt. Cdr. Nicholas Stone, were serving aboard the Vanguard class ballistic missile submarine HMS Victorious and the Astute class nuclear attack submarine HMS Ambush, respectively.
Who Is Deterring Whom? The Place of Nuclear Weapons in Modern War
Jeffrey Lewis and Aaron Stein | War on the Rocks
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, old questions about nuclear deterrence have been revisited by a broad swath of academics, scholars, and pundits who have spent the past three decades acclimated to a climate of dramatically reduced nuclear risk. For those of us working in what has been a niche subfield, the attention has been both validating and, at times, surprising. What is not often said is that nuclear deterrence is working and, as a result, both the United States and Russia face constraints in how they approach conflict that involves the other. Nuclear deterrence has limited the escalation of the conflict in profound ways, despite brutal fighting, heavy casualties, and the supply of substantial amounts of Western weaponry to Ukraine. This is welcome news, but there is a caution: There is no guarantee that it will continue to do so, nor can there be.