The Waters Could Claim Nuclear Weapons
Jamie Kwong | Foreign Policy
On March 15, 2019, floodwaters breached the gates of Offutt Air Force Base. Two days later, one-third of the base was inundated—and at least $1 billion worth of damage done. Offutt is perhaps best known as the home of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), the central node of the country’s nuclear command-and-control system. While the flood stopped short of STRATCOM headquarters, this incident paints an all-too-clear picture about the potentially catastrophic ways climate change and nuclear weapons could intersect.
US Deploys Nuclear-armed Submarine to South Korea in Show of Force Against North Korea
HYUNG-JIN KIM | Associated Press
The United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades, as the allies warned North Korea that any use of the North’s nuclear weapons in combat would result in the end of its regime…The USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday afternoon, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said. It is the first visit by a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s, it said.
Marshall Islands Seeks More U.S. Nuclear Legacy Funds to Settle Strategic Deal
David Brunnstrom | Reuters
The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands called on Thursday for more U.S. money to deal with the legacy of massive U.S. nuclear testing to enable the renewal of a strategic agreement governing bilateral relations. Foreign Minister Jack Ading told a U.S. congressional hearing a memorandum of understanding on terms to extend his country's Compact of Free Association (COFA) with Washington was signed in January without proper domestic authorization and under pressure of a deadline for inclusion in President Joe Biden's budget. "There are other issues that needed to included, and especially, additional funding for the nuclear-affected populations," he told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, appealing to Congress to direct the Biden Administration to continue negotiating.
UK Government Bets on Small-scale Nuclear
ABBY WALLACE | Politico
The U.K. government has set its sights on a new generation of small-scale nuclear reactors in its bid to protect domestic energy security and hit net zero targets. Energy Secretary Grant Shapps hailed the potential for “billions of pounds of public and private sector investment” in small modular reactors (SMRs) ahead of the long-awaited launch of Great British Nuclear (GBN) later Tuesday.
Sidelining of a Key US Official Adds to Uncertainty About Iran Nuclear Talks
Nadeen Ebrahim and Elizabeth Wells | CNN
A prominent diplomat who has been steering the Iran nuclear talks for the Biden administration, Rob Malley, was last month placed on leave without pay, after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year during an investigation into his handling of classified material. Malley’s sidelining has raised questions about the fate of a long-stalled nuclear deal with Iran, which is seen as more urgent than ever as Tehran proceeds with uranium enrichment, and as both the US and Iran brace for key elections next year.
THE WEST CANNOT CURE RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR FEVER
HANNA NOTTE | War on the Rocks
Those looking toward Russia’s declaratory policy for firm cues about the circumstances that could trigger nuclear use will not find comforting certainty, either, since it is meant to deter with intentional ambiguity. Western observers must therefore accept an uncomfortable reality: For as long as Russia fights against Ukraine, and for as long as the United States and Europe support Ukraine in its defense, there will be no cure against Russia’s “nuclear fever” — and the risk of nuclear war will remain. Russia’s heightened efforts to induce fear via nuclear signaling are also entirely consistent with the country’s deterrence strategy, which has been honed over decades. At best, Western states can hope to lower the temperature and seek to credibly deter Russia’s crossing of the nuclear threshold. At worst, U.S. and European leaders have to contemplate how to respond to nuclear use and all the implications that any such decision may entail.