Jamie Kwong | The Nonproliferation Review
What exactly does the public think about the potential spread of nuclear weapons? How might those opinions change? Does messaging impact the public’s proliferation attitudes? This paper presents findings from an original survey of US public attitudes toward nuclear proliferation issues to determine what types of elite messaging, if any, impact those attitudes. It considers two contemporary proliferation topics, the Iran nuclear deal and the AUKUS nuclear-powered-submarine initiative, making it among the first to gather data on how Americans view the trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The findings demonstrate that elite messaging does impact attitudes toward proliferation issues, but that those effects vary across different issues.
Laurence Norman | Wall Street Journal
Close observers of Iran’s nuclear development have long believed the country’s top leaders have calculated that the costs of building a bomb outweigh the benefits. As a threshold nuclear power with weapon capabilities within reach, Iran already enjoys considerable deterrence power without risking the war that could come if an attempt to build a bomb is detected. But that thesis has been shaken this year. As tensions with Israel grew, top Iranian officials have made a string of statements hinting that Tehran is close to mastering the technicalities of building a bomb.
Seema Mehta | LA Times
Yucca Mountain is a third rail in Nevada politics…That’s why presidents of both parties have backed away from creating the repository in the Silver State, whose voters are increasingly critical to winning the White House.All of which makes comments by Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown about Yucca Mountain so remarkable. In recent years, Brown supported opening the facility, calling the failure to do so an “incredible loss of revenue for our state.” Asked about the comments in the context of a Senate race that could determine which party controls the Senate after the November election, Brown did not reiterate his support but said he favors increased efforts to diversify the state’s economy without sacrificing safety.
Reuters
Russia said on Thursday that Poland was playing a "very dangerous game" by considering the possibility of hosting U.S. nuclear weapons.Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday he had invited Prime Minister Donald Tusk for talks on May 1 about the possibility of nuclear weapons from NATO states being deployed in Poland. Duda has reiterated his position that Poland would be ready for such a possibility, prompting Tusk to say he would like a clarification from the president.
Bryant Harris | Defense News
A key group of senators is pushing to include their bill on nuclear modernization when the Armed Services Committee drafts its annual defense policy legislation in June. The Restoring American Deterrence Act, introduced by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., would create a new Pentagon position to oversee deterrence policy, develop plans to deploy up to 50 extra intercontinental ballistic missiles, require an assessment of U.S. sites suited to host highly enriched uranium facilities, and increase Defense Production Act grants for the industrial base.
Will Wade | Bloomberg
A month after the US offered $1.5 billion to restart one shuttered nuclear power plant, there’s a growing sense among officials in the industry and government that it may not be the last. “There are a couple of nuclear power plants that we probably should, and can, turn back on,” said Jigar Shah, director of the US Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office.