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NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROLNew START to Expire: Nuclear Arms Control Goes Up in Smoke
On 5 February 2026, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) will expire. This is the last remaining major treaty between the United States (US) and Russia limiting their deployed strategic nuclear warheads.
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NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROLWeakening Nuclear Arms Control Increases Risks of Crisis Escalation
The expiration of the New START agreement between the United States and Russia on 5 February marks the near-complete collapse of an arms control system that once made nuclear competition predictable, verifiable and contained. The risk is not merely enlargement of nuclear arsenals, but the diminishment of safeguards against escalation, with increasing instability and shorter warning times.
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NUCLEAR WEAPONSBookshelf: Why the U.S. Failed to Contain North Korea’s Nuclear Threat
Joel Wit’s new book details the failure of the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations to contain and limit North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Wit writes that Trump had an opportunity to roll back the North Korean program, but Trump’s personal characteristics and governing style doomed the effort. Wit credits Trump’s unorthodox approach for setting the stage for the unprecedented Hanoi summit withKim Jong Un, but blames his short attention span – John Bolton said that Trump “has the attention span of a fruit fly” — for its breakdown. “The president couldn’t sit still long enough to close the deal,” Wit writes.
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NUCLEAR RISKSSmall Modular Reactors and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are widely heralded as the next major leap in civilian nuclear energy. Beneath this optimism, however, lies a growing unease within the nuclear policy community relating to the nuclear weapons proliferation and safeguards challenges that SMRs pose to the existing global nuclear governance system.
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NUCLEAR WARWho Can Start a Nuclear War? Inside U.S. Launch Authority and Reform
The U.S. president can order a nuclear launch without consulting anyone, including Congress, and U.S. nuclear weapons have been prepared to launch within minutes since the Cold War. While reforms to U.S. retaliation policy seem unlikely, restraining a president’s ability to launch a first strike could be possible.
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NUCLEAR WEAPONSLabs Director “Absolutely Confident in the Stockpile”
The annual certification of the nuclear weapons stockpile is Sandia’s most important responsibility, according to Labs Director Laura McGill. As part of the certification, at least one of each weapon system in the stockpile is brought through the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, to be tested and examined.
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EXPORT CONTROLCanadian-Based Company Fined by U.S. Commerce Department for Hiding U.S. Exports to Iran
On October 2, 2025, a Canada-headquartered biotechnology company, Luminultra, agreed to pay the Bureau of Industry and Security $685,051 after admitting to illegally exporting water quality testing and analytical instruments to Iran by means of the United Arab Emirates.
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NUCLEARPOWERED MISSILESNuclear-Powered Missiles: An Aerospace Engineer Explains How They Work – and What Russia’s Claimed Test Means for Global Strategic Stability
Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in a military uniform, announced on Oct. 26, 2025, that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered missile. Here is how these weapons function, the advantages they present over conventional missile systems, and their potential to disrupt global strategic stability.
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NUCLEAR ESCALATION RISKSStudying War in the New Nuclear Age
Nuclear security can be a daunting topic: The consequences seem unimaginable, but the threat is real. MIT political scientist Caitlin Talmadge scrutinizes military postures and international dynamics to understand the risks of escalation.
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NUCLEAR WEAPONSWill Trump’s Nuclear Testing Order Prompt a Global Race?
President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to immediately resume nuclear weapons testing “because of other countries testing programs.” But no other country has tested nuclear weapons in more than 30 years, and nuclear policy experts worry that Trump’s push may disrupt what has been a more than three-decades-long moratorium of live testing of nuclear explosives.
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NUCLEAR WASTELANL Waste Containers Successfully Depressurized
Technicians successfully completed the depressurization of four flanged tritium waste containers and moved them to a waste staging location on site. The containers were placed in temporary storage in 2007. Over the years, pressure gradually built in the containers. Alleviating that pressure was necessary to safely prepare them for eventual shipment offsite.
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RDIOLOGICAL THREATSU.S. Army Taps INL’s Nuclear Expertise, Capabilities to Strengthen Radiological Response and Readiness
The mission of the U.S. Army’s Nuclear Disablement Team (NDT) is to disable potential enemies’nuclear capabilities. INL’s experts help train NDT team members for that mission.
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IRAN’S THREATIsrael Secretly Recruited Iranian Dissidents to Attack Their Country from Within
The Mossad made Iran its top priority in 1993 after Israelis and Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn, seemingly ending decades of conflict. The main goal of Israel’s focus on Iran: To protect Israel’s nuclear monopoly in the region.
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IRAN’S NUKES Significance of the Targeted Nuclear Scientists in the 12-Day War
The June 2025 war between Israel and Iran, called the 12-Day War, saw the killing y the Israeli military of many Iranian nuclear scientists who participated in or are linked to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. the elimination of these nuclear scientists deprived Iran’s nuclear weapons program of its most capable and experienced personnel. This act weakened Iran’s base for building nuclear weapons, eliminating needed expertise and hard-to-get management experience.
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IRAN’S NUKES What Damage Did the U.S. Do to Iran’s Nuclear Program? Why It’s So Hard to Know
Disagreements over the damage the U.S. bombing did to Iran’s nuclear facilities are unsurprising. Battle damage assessment –originally called bomb damage assessment –is notoriously difficult, and past wars have featured intense controversies among military and intelligence professionals.
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The long view
NUCLEAR WEAPONSBookshelf: Why the U.S. Failed to Contain North Korea’s Nuclear Threat
Joel Wit’s new book details the failure of the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations to contain and limit North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Wit writes that Trump had an opportunity to roll back the North Korean program, but Trump’s personal characteristics and governing style doomed the effort. Wit credits Trump’s unorthodox approach for setting the stage for the unprecedented Hanoi summit withKim Jong Un, but blames his short attention span – John Bolton said that Trump “has the attention span of a fruit fly” — for its breakdown. “The president couldn’t sit still long enough to close the deal,” Wit writes.
NUCLEAR RISKSSmall Modular Reactors and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are widely heralded as the next major leap in civilian nuclear energy. Beneath this optimism, however, lies a growing unease within the nuclear policy community relating to the nuclear weapons proliferation and safeguards challenges that SMRs pose to the existing global nuclear governance system.