Nuclear Issues

31 Items

Cluver, Chaudhry and Najam

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

Analysis & Opinions

Conversations in Diplomacy: Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Adil Najam

| Apr. 27, 2017

Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University Adil Najam discuss the ups and downs of US-Pakistan relations and possibilities for engagement under the new US administration.

Could There Be a Terrorist Fukushima?

commons.wikimedia.org

Analysis & Opinions - The New York Times

Could There Be a Terrorist Fukushima?

| April 4, 2016

The attacks in Brussels last month were a stark reminder of the terrorists’ resolve, and of our continued vulnerabilities, including in an area of paramount concern: nuclear security.

The attackers struck an airport and the subway, but some Belgian investigators believe they seemed to have fallen back on those targets because they felt the authorities closing in on them, and that their original plan may have been to strike a nuclear plant. A few months ago, during a raid in the apartment of a suspect linked to the November attacks in Paris, investigators found surveillance footage of a senior Belgian nuclear official. Belgian police are said to have connected two of the Brussels terrorists to that footage.

A sign warns against trespassing onto the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, August, 17, 2012.

AP

Analysis & Opinions - Defense One

The All-Too-Human Reason Nuclear Material Isn’t Secure Enough

| March 23, 2016

The security failures revealed by Sister Megan Rice at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, Tennessee were legion, rooted in complacency and poor training. We must have a culture committed to continuous improvement. If people are to create an excellent security culture, they must be trained and certified as competent.

A crane picks up containers with uranium to be used as fuel for nuclear reactors on a port in St. Petersburg, Russia, November 14, 2013.

AP

Analysis & Opinions - Nuclear Security Matters

Fresh Thinking on Highly Enriched Uranium Research Reactor Conversions

| February 3, 2016

Through several programmatic evolutions, U.S. efforts to convert HEU research reactors and to repatriate fresh and spent fuel, have significantly advanced efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and terrorism.  Unavoidable technical and political factors have slowed this progress.  To maintain the program’s momentum, fresh thinking will be necessary and deserves support from the executive and legislative branches of government.

US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz addresses the media during the general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

AP

Analysis & Opinions - Real Clear Politics

Are Iranian Military Bases Off-Limits to Inspection?

| September 8, 2015

If Iran can deny inspectors access to military sites, it will create an enormous sanctuary for clandestine nuclear weapons work. The Parchin site alone encompasses hundreds of buildings spread over a dozen square miles. If military sites in Iran are off limits to IAEA inspection, the “strongest nonproliferation agreement ever negotiated” will include the largest loophole in arms control history.

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about the Iran Deal, August 11, 2015.

AP

Analysis & Opinions - Real Clear Politics

Why Those Secret Iran Side Deals Matter

| August 24, 2015

It is past time to disclose and explain Iran’s secret deals with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Although the White House has downplayed the importance of these arrangements, calling them “side deals,” they raise questions that go to the heart of President Obama’s claim that the agreement the six leading powers struck with Iran will deny it a bomb for at least 10 to15 years. These “side” understandings are crucial to evaluating the potential effectiveness of the July agreement, although Secretary of State John Kerry claims not to have read them. A draft of one of them has leaked to the Associated Press, but it raises more questions than it answers.