Simple Steps for Nuclear Weapon States to Honor Their Disarmament Commitments
Tong Zhao | The Korean Journal on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Energy
The lack of progress on global nuclear disarmament and arms control casts a shadow over the upcoming tenth review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The maintenance of a robust NPT regime requires nuclear-weapon states (NWS) and non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS) to work together to prevent stalled disarmament momentum from further weakening the nonproliferation regime.
US Soldiers Expose Nuclear Weapons Secrets via Flashcard Apps
Foeke Postma | Bellingcat
For US soldiers tasked with the custody of nuclear weapons in Europe, the stakes are high. Security protocols are lengthy, detailed and need to be known by heart. To simplify this process, some service members have been using publicly visible flashcard learning apps — inadvertently revealing a multitude of sensitive security protocols about US nuclear weapons and the bases at which they are stored.
UN Watchdog: Access to Key Iranian Data Lacking Since Feb 23
Kiyoko Metzler and David Rising | Associated Press
The United Nations’ atomic watchdog hasn’t been able to access data important to monitoring Iran’s nuclear program since late February when the Islamic Republic started restricting international inspections of its facilities, the agency said Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press that it has “not had access to the data from its online enrichment monitors and electronic seals, or had access to the measurement recordings registered by its installed measurement devices” since Feb. 23. While the IAEA and Iran earlier acknowledged the restrictions limited access to surveillance cameras at Iranian facilities, Monday’s report indicated they went much further.
North Korea Accuses US of ‘Hostile Act’ in Terminating ROK Missile Limits
Colin Zwirko | NK News
North Korea’s state-run news agency released its first reaction to the recent U.S.-South Korea summit on Monday, accusing Washington of committing a “deliberate and hostile act” in agreeing to terminate limits on Seoul’s missile development. The new statement also accused the U.S. of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and said the termination of the Revised Missile Guidelines this month served as a “stark reminder of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and its shameful double-dealing.”
Biden Nuclear Nominee Would Continue Trump-Era Plutonium Pit Production Plans
Joe Gould | Defense News
President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee nuclear warhead development, Jill Hruby, said Thursday the U.S. should continue plans to ramp up production of plutonium cores, a key component in nuclear weapons, by using two sites. Federal officials, under President Donald Trump, set a deadline of 2030 for increased production of the plutonium cores or pits, with work split between Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina ― which is 25 percent into a refit. At stake are jobs and billions of federal dollars to upgrade buildings or construct new factories, and it’s been an open question whether Biden would review those plans.
The Missile Defense Agency’s $8.9B Budget Request Focuses on Next-Gen Defense
Jen Judson | Defense News
The Missile Defense Agency’s $8.9 billion fiscal 2022 budget request focuses heavily on the development of future capabilities including a next-generation interceptor for homeland missile defense, a hypersonic defensive capability and space-based tracking critical to detecting challenging threats, according to budget documents released May 28.