US and China discussing reciprocal nuclear site visits amid concerns about a new arms race

Kylie Atwood, David Winkle | CNN

The Trump administration has discussed beginning reciprocal nuclear site visits with China and plans to continue pushing for that possibility during in-person meetings in the coming months, according to sources familiar with the matter. The discussions, which have been informal and preliminary, come amid mounting US concerns about China’s rapidly growing nuclear weapons program and after the last remaining arms control agreement between the US and Russia expired last year. … The idea of reciprocal visits was initially raised by the Chinese while meeting US officials this year, one source said.

Kremlin warns Lithuania that its move to lift a nuclear arms ban risks further escalation

Reuters | October 6, 2026

The Kremlin on Tuesday warned that a preliminary decision by NATO member Lithuania to lift a constitutional ban on ​hosting nuclear arms on its territory could lead to ‌a new round of escalation in the region. Lithuania's parliament voted in favour of removing the ban on Tuesday, in a first of two ballots required for ​the change. Asked by reporters how Russia viewed that development, ​as well as a proposal floated this month by ⁠US President Donald Trump to build an American military base in ​the Baltic country, “If the military infrastructure ​of what is, in effect, NATO's leading country (the US) is moving closer to our borders, then, of course, this cannot be perceived as anything other ​than a step towards escalating tensions."

Trump’s Golden Dome faces headwinds with funding uncertain

Ellen Mitchell | The Hill

The Golden Dome, President Trump’s lofty plan for a national ballistic missile defense shield, is facing heavy headwinds with project funding still uncertain. The missile defense program, estimated to cost some $1.2 trillion over 20 years of development and operation, needs a significant influx of funding to get it off the ground this fiscal year. But the Pentagon made a risky move in its budget strategy, requesting a $1.15 trillion base budget and a $350 billion reconciliation package to be passed on a party-line vote … raising doubts about whether a lame-duck Congress will be able to inject the program with the dollars it needs to proceed.

Google, Constellation Energy Strike Deal for Nuclear Power

Brody Ford, Dina Bass, and Will Wade | Bloomberg

Google parent Alphabet Inc. agreed to buy nuclear power from Constellation Energy Corp. in a deal that will spur the addition of 890 megawatts of new reactor capacity. The power producer’s stock soared. The 20-year power-purchase agreement will drive more than $4.3 billion in investments to upgrade systems at 11 Constellation reactors across the largest US power grid, the companies said in a statement Tuesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. The electricity will start arriving on the grid operated by PJM Interconnection LLC as soon as 2028.

5 Data Points You Should Know from the 2026 NTI Index

Simon Thorpe | NTI

NTI just released the 2026 NTI Nuclear Security Index (NTI Index), the only independent and transparent assessment of global nuclear and radiological security conditions across 176 countries and areas. The NTI Index team spent months poring over thousands of data points, synthesizing them into the 11 most urgent findings, and crafting recommendations for how governments can respond. Among those thousands of data points, here are five worth knowing:

The nuclear paradox: Why the world wants both deterrence and disarmament

Lauren Sukin, Luis Rodriguez, Stephen Herzog | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

In the summer of 2023, as Russia threatened nuclear strikes against Ukraine, we conducted the most comprehensive academic survey of global attitudes toward nuclear weapons ever undertaken. Across 24 countries on six continents—from nuclear powers like France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to non-nuclear-armed states like Brazil, Nigeria, and Poland—we asked more than 27,000 people what they thought of the bomb.