2019
Treaty’s End Would Give U.S., Russia Impetus to Make More Nukes: STUDY
“Neither country would have the same degree of confidence in its ability to assess the other’s precise warhead levels,” CNA’s Vince Manzo wrote in the study. “Worst-case planning is also more likely as a result.”
BY ARSHAD MOHAMMED & JONATHAN LANDAY | reuters.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The demise of the only U.S.-Russia arms control pact limiting deployed nuclear weapons would make it harder for each to gauge the other’s intentions, giving both incentives to expand their arsenals, according to a study to be released on Monday.
The expiration of the New START accord also may undermine faith in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which calls on nuclear states such as the United States and Russia to work toward nuclear disarmament, as well as influence China’s nuclear posture, historically one of restraint.
HIGH-RISK SERIES: Substantial Efforts Needed to Achieve Greater Progress on High-Risk Areas
Regarding proper use of taxpayers’ money, DOE and NNSA have been on the Government Accountability Office’s High Risk List for project mismanagement for 27 consecutive years (begins page 217 in full report).
U.S. Companies Granted Authorizations for Nuclear Work in Saudi
Want to help the erratic, murderous Saudi regime develop nuclear technology? That’s OK with the Department of Energy.
BY ERIN BANCO | thedailybeast.com
The U.S. Department of Energy has approved six authorizations for U.S. companies seeking to conduct nuclear related work in Saudi Arabia, according to two sources with knowledge of those approvals. Federal law stipulates that companies obtain clearance from the U.S. government for exporting nuclear technology to or engaging in the production or development of special nuclear material in Saudi Arabia.
The authorizations—known as Part 810s, referring to a clause in federal regulations —allow U.S. companies to divulge specific details about plans for working in Saudi Arabia and certain information about the nuclear technology. For example, a company would need a Part 810 to transfer physical documents, electronic media or the “transfer of knowledge and expertise” to Saudi Arabia, according to the Department of Energy.
“In a sense we live in a thermonuclear monarchy. The secrecy that surrounds nuclear weapons is quite extraordinary, and it’s really the only policy area where we have so much secrecy…”
“…We’re really in the dark – the government has decided what we can and can’t know about the most consequential decision a country can make – whether to go to war, and whether to go to nuclear war. We think we have a democracy, but we will not have a full democracy until as citizens we can take greater control of this extraordinarily dangerous technology.“
Kennette Benedict at the New Momentum for Saner Nuclear Policy
Trump’s 2020 Nuclear Weapons Budget Escalates New Arms Race
Posted By Scott Kovac
Santa Fe, NM – Today the Trump Administration released more budget details for the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons programs for fiscal year 2020. This same fiscal year will also mark the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Global Nuclear Weapons Threats Are Rising
More than 25 years after the end of the Cold War, all eight established nuclear weapons powers are “modernizing” their stockpiles. Talks have broken down with North Korea, the new nuclear weapons power. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan narrowly averted war last month. Russian President Vladmir Putin made new nuclear threats in response to Trump’s announced withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. This could lead to hair-trigger missile emplacements in the heart of Europe and block extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. If so, the world will be without any nuclear arms control at all for the first time since 1972.
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Trump’s 2020 Nuclear Weapons Budget Escalates New Arms Race
Santa Fe, NM – Today the Trump Administration released more budget details for the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons programs for fiscal year 2020. This same fiscal year will also mark the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Global Nuclear Weapons Threats Are Rising
In sum, the world is facing the most serious nuclear threats since the first half of the 1980’s. At that time President Ronald Reagan said, “a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be fought” and called for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
US underground nuclear waste dump explained
BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN | stripes.com March 23, 2019
WHAT IS THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT? WIPP is the United States’ only permanent underground repository licensed to take what is known as transuranic waste, or waste generated by the nation’s nuclear weapons program that’s contaminated with radioactive elements heavier than uranium.
Residents around TMI exposed to far more radiation than officials claimed
Researchers under gag order couldn’t investigate true health impacts after Three Mile Island nuclear disaster
By CINDY FOLKERS | beyondenuclearinternational.org
Residents around Three Mile Island were exposed to much more radiation from the nuclear disaster than was claimed by officials, a fact that was kept from researchers and the public for years.
After the Three Mile Island reactor core melted and radioactivity was released to the surrounding population, researchers were not allowed to investigate health impacts of higher doses because the TMI Public Health Fund, established to pay for public health research related to the disaster, was under a research gag order issued by a court. If a researcher wanted to conduct a study using money from this Fund, they had to obey two main parameters set forth by Federal Judge Sylvia Rambo, who was in charge of the Fund.*