David E. Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs | The New York Times
This weekend, the president and his energy secretary, who oversees the development and maintenance of the nuclear stockpile, contradicted each other on the critical question of whether the United States is about to break the three-decade taboo on explosive testing of nuclear weapons… The mixed messages have amounted to an extraordinary situation in which the president, who is followed everywhere by an aide carrying the “nuclear football” with nuclear codes and options, cannot get on the same page with one of his top cabinet officials on how the U.S. government is handling the most destructive weapons in the world.
Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, David Brunnstorm, and Simon Lewis | Reuters/Yahoo
If U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Richard Correll thought he was going to have an easy confirmation hearing on Thursday to become the commander of America's nuclear forces, those hopes surely vanished at 9:04 p.m. the night before he was to testify. That was when President Donald Trump shocked the world by announcing on social media that he had asked the U.S. military to "start testing our Nuclear Weapons” … During a roughly 90-minute hearing on Thursday morning at the Senate Armed Services Committee, Correll faced repeated questions about Trump's comments from puzzled U.S. lawmakers, embodying the confusion that the Republican president unleashed in Washington and beyond.
Mary Illyushina and Alex Horton | The Washington Post
Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted this week that Russia has tested a nuclear-powered super torpedo, the Poseidon, that was unstoppable and more powerful than a nuclear missile, the second announcement in a week of Russian trials involving nuclear-capable weapons systems… The Poseidon is designed for stealthy underwater travel on its way to destroy critical coastal infrastructure, such as naval stations and ports. At 70 feet long, it’s too large for Russia’s largest submarines and requires its own purpose-built submarine to launch it.
Michael Riley | Bloomberg
The revival of nuclear power in the US has been predicted countless times since President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program rose from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This version, though, is something never before seen. Rather than huge power stations built by engineering companies for giant utilities, a new breed of nuclear startup wants to commercialize reactors, some so small they could be carried on semitrucks, so mighty they could power the hungriest of artificial intelligence data centers. Not one of these so-called advanced reactors has yet to be built in the US, but their promise has touched off a dealmaking frenzy.
Tucker Reals | CBS News
China's Foreign Ministry responded on Monday to President Trump's assertion that Beijing has conducted clandestine nuclear weapons testing with a flat denial… Asked about Mr. Trump's claims on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters during a press briefing that as a "responsible nuclear-weapons state, China has always ... upheld a self-defense nuclear strategy and abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing."
Kelsey Davenport | Arms Control Organization
Iran and the United States expressed support for negotiating a nuclear deal after the UN Security Council reimposed sanctions and nuclear restrictions on Iran, but neither government appears willing to take the first step to begin talks… The United States has said little about its negotiating position and how it would approach talks, aside from Trump’s continued demands that Iran forgo uranium enrichment as part of a deal. The reimposition of UN restrictions in September and Israeli and U.S. military strikes on Iran in June have complicated the political dynamics.