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Reflections on the IAEA Nuclear Security Conference: More Participants, Less...
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the conference on nuclear security in Vienna sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The conference was enormous, with 2,000 participants...
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: NNSA’s FY18 Budget Request
On Tuesday, May 23, the Trump administration released its Fiscal Year 2018 (FY2018) budget request. In an overall federal budget where many, many programs faced severe budget cuts, the National Nuclear...
View ArticleIncrease in Cancer Risk for Japanese Workers Accidentally Exposed to Plutonium
According to news reports, five workers were accidentally exposed to high levels of radiation at the Oarai nuclear research and development center in Tokai-mura, Japan on June 6th. The Japan Atomic...
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The Pyroprocessing Files
The article by Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times highlights the failure of the Department of Energy’s decades-long effort to chemically process a stockpile of spent nuclear fuel at Idaho...
View ArticleThe “Versatile Fast Neutron Source”: A Misguided Nuclear Reactor Project
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) supports a moderate level of Department of Energy (DOE) research funding to make nuclear power safer and more secure—for example the agency’s program to develop...
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The Case of the “Low-Yield” Trident Warhead
Among the nuclear weapons programs included in the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, only one could start this year and be fully implemented in 2019. The military could field a “low-yield”...
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Another Nail in the Coffin of the Misguided MOX Program
In the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus spending bill passed by the House of Representatives yesterday and the Senate today, Congress is taking an encouraging step toward terminating the wasteful and dangerous...
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What Does North Korea Want—and What is the US Prepared to Give?
North Korea is not likely to negotiate in earnest unless it is convinced the United States is committed to the process. It is important that the administration put together a package of what it is...
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The House is Setting a New, More Rational Direction for US Nuclear Policy
The House today began debating its version of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress’ annual effort to oversee US security policy and set defense program funding levels....
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The Human Side of Nuclear Weapons Issues in the FY20 Defense Bill
Editors Note: January 27, 2020 is the “National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders”—a day to acknowledge the extreme harm caused to those exposed to radiation and fallout from atmospheric nuclear...
View ArticleIndependent Report Confirms that Downblending and Geologic Disposal is Best...
Today, UCS is releasing the Phase 2 report of the “Plutonium Disposition Options Independent Assessment” carried out by the Aerospace Corporation. This report, dated August 20, 2015, but only now...
View ArticleQuick Take on the FY 2017 NNSA Budget Request
Weapons Program Budgets Up, Nonproliferation Budget Down On February 9, the Obama administration unveiled the Fiscal Year 2017 budget request, its final annual submission to Congress of this kind. In...
View ArticleThe Perfect Gift for the Nuclear Security Summit
As the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit convenes today, here’s an idea for a great parting gift that President Obama can offer to the international community. The United States possesses a...
View ArticleNew NNSA Stockpile Plan Same as the Old Plan: Problematic
Last week the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released its Fiscal Year 2017 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, the agency’s annual update on its 25-year plan for the U.S....
View ArticleBad science: Russian objections to US plutonium proposal not a reason to keep...
President Putin recently made some alarming statements about U.S. plans to cancel the current American approach to disposing of excess plutonium. His comments are important because the United States...
View ArticleWill Congress Reject the Administration’s New Plan to Dispose of Excess...
After several years and multiple studies, the Obama administration—led by the Department of Energy (DOE)—finally has a new plan to get rid of the excess plutonium generated by the U.S. nuclear weapons...
View ArticleJASON Critiques the 3+2 Nuclear Stockpile Plan
Yesterday the National Nuclear Security Administration posted the executive summary of a study by JASON, the independent science advisory group, of the “3+2” program to replace most of the U.S. nuclear...
View ArticleAnother knock against MOX
The MOX program has been staggering along for years, struggling for survival. Today’s news, that Russia is suspending the joint U.S.-Russian agreement to dispose of excess plutonium, should be the...
View ArticleLet’s Get a Better Deal on Plutonium Disposition
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to renegotiate international agreements to get “better deals” for the United States. A good place for him to start would be the U.S.-Russia Plutonium...
View ArticlePresident Obama Can Still Reduce Stored Nuclear Weapons & Fissile Materials
It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over During the summer and fall, reports appeared that President Obama was considering actions he could take to make a major impact on U.S. nuclear weapons policy before leaving...
View ArticleCuts to the Fissile Materials Stockpile
The Final Countdown The United States maintains stockpiles of weapons-usable fissile materials—plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU)—that are much larger than needed. This material is a security...
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Trimming the Fat: Obama and Nuclear Weapons Cuts
The White House is considering what concrete steps President Obama could take to change US nuclear weapons policy and reduce the risks of nuclear weapons before he leaves office. His advisors have...
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Last Call! Obama’s Final Actions on Nuclear Weapons
At the beginning of his presidency, President Obama gave a soaring speech in Prague, promising that the US will “put an end to Cold War thinking” and “reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national...
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Scientists’ Letter to Trump Supporting Iran Nuclear Deal
Donald Trump has made conflicting statements about how he views the Iranian nuclear deal and what he plans to do about it once he takes office. But the deal has now been in effect for a year and...
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