Edition

Nuclear Powers Must Lead on Arms Control

IN THIS ISSUE: US Gives Details on Iran Sites Under Scrutiny of UN Nuclear Watchdog, Lockheed Sails Through Second Flight Test of Precision Strike Missile, No New Power Projects From Indo-US Nuclear Deal, Prospects for Nuclear Governance in Brazil

Published on March 12, 2020

Nuclear Powers Must Lead on Arms Control

Tong Zhao | Korea Times

The once-every-five-years review conference of the 191-member Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will start in April in New York. One of the most divisive issues at the conference will be the lack of sufficient progress by Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) toward fulfilling their legal obligation on nuclear disarmament. Against the background of an increasingly intensive nuclear arms competition among the major powers, the collapsing of existing arms control treaties, and the simmering crises around North Korea and Iran, the five NWS, who are also the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, must exercise leadership to safeguard a stable nuclear order. The NWS has created the P5 Process in 2009 to discuss steps to implement their NPT obligations, and especially to promote disarmament through transparency and confidence-building measures. This mechanism is being under-used, but has potential to make greater contribution to arms control. 

US Gives Details on Iran Sites Under Scrutiny of UN Nuclear Watchdog

Francois Murphy | Reuters

One of the three sites in Iran about which the U.N. nuclear watchdog says it has raised questions that Tehran has failed to answer may have hosted uranium metal, the United States said on Wednesday, providing new details on the locations. The International Atomic Energy Agency policing Iran’s troubled nuclear deal with major powers rebuked Tehran last week for failing to reply to its questions about nuclear activities dating back to the early 2000s at three sites and for denying its inspectors access to two of them. Uranium metal has long been an issue of interest to the IAEA in investigating Iran’s past work. In 2005 Iran handed the IAEA a 15-page document given to it by a nuclear black market network showing how to make two uranium metal half-spheres like those that often make up the core of an atomic bomb.

Lockheed Sails Through Second Flight Test of Precision Strike Missile

Jen Judson | Defense News

Lockheed Martin sailed through its second flight test of its version of the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, intended to replace the Army Tactical Missile System, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on March 10. The Army also plans to adjust its maximum range requirement following critical test shots of the two PrSMs. The missile’s current maximum range requirement is 499 kilometers, which is the range that was compliant under the now-collapsed Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and Russia. The United States withdrew from the treaty in August, and so the Army no longer has to adhere to the range limit for its missiles. The baseline missile could reach a range of 550 kilometers based on data from both companies competing to build the PrSM.

No New Power Projects From Indo-US Nuclear Deal

Daily Pioneer 

A Parliamentary Standing Committee Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change has said the Indo-US nuclear deal has not yet resulted in any “new” power projects with foreign assistance and that the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) should, for now, adopt home-grown 700 MW heavy water reactors for its expansion programme. Signed in 2008, the Indo-US nuclear deal ended India's nuclear pariah status and enabled import of uranium for its power reactors. In 2008, France also signed a deal. “The committee is also aware of the fact that apart from helping India acquire badly needed natural uranium from other countries, the Indo-US nuclear agreement has not yet resulted in new commercial projects with foreign assistance,” the panel which submitted its report on Friday said.

Prospects for Nuclear Governance in Brazil

Togzhan Kassenova, Lucas Perez Florentino, and Matias Spektor | FGV School of International Relations

Brazil’s nuclear policy is at a critical juncture. As existing capabilities expand, successive administrations have in recent years engaged in a multi-stakeholder process to reform the rules and institutions governing the sector. The outcome will have serious implications for nuclear safety and security, the private sector, civilian-military relations, policy accountability, and the future prospects of Brazil’s nuclear capabilities. This is the first attempt to our knowledge to systematically and independently assess the status of these profound transformations, through in-depth consultations across the board.

State Dept. Official on Trump’s Vision for Nuclear Arms Control

Nick Shifrin | PBS News Hour

The New START treaty is the only remaining limit on U.S. and Russian offensive nuclear weapons. It is set to expire next February. So far, the Trump administration has been unwilling to begin negotiations. Instead, the U.S. says it wants to explore a broader agreement, to include China, but critics fear that strategy, that it might risk the treaty altogether. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a half-dozen new weapons systems, including a nuclear cruise missile he called Invincible. The U.S. is replacing aging nuclear bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and recently fielded a new nuclear warhead like this one that could be launched by submarine. But some arms control experts, and members of Congress, fear New START could expire and spark a new arms race. And to discuss New START, as well as other issues, I'm joined by Chris Ford, assistant secretary of international security and nonproliferation at the State Department.

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.