• IRAN’S NUKESOperation Opera Redux? Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Preventive War Paradox

    By Patrick Sullivan

    The 1981 Israeli destruction of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor was an operational success, but is regarded by many as a strategic failure. Scholars call this the preventive war paradox: compromising one’s security in the long term through military action that is operationally successful.

  • IRAN’S NUKESShowdown in the Middle East

    By Lawrence Freedman

    In 2018, President Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, claiming that Obama’s deal wasn’t good enough and that he would get a better one by imposing “maximum pressure.” As was predicted in 2018, the Iranian response to the U.S. campaign of maximum pressure was not to offer the Americans more, but instead to press ahead with enriching Uranium to the point where they are now close to having enough to build some nuclear weapons should they choose to do so. Can a new round of negotiations, or military action, stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon?

  • IRAN’S NUKESWhere the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks Are Headed

    By Ray Takeyh

    The Iranian position remains that the talks should focus on the nuclear issue and sanctions relief, with Iran repeatedly stating that its nuclear program is only intended for peaceful purposes. Trump has said that he only wants assurances that Iran does not produce nuclear weapons. Thus, issues such as Iran’s support for regional proxies and its missile program could be off the table.

  • NUCLEAR WASTEHow and Where Is Nuclear waste stored in the U.S.?

    By Gerald Frankel

    Around the U.S., about 90,000 tons of nuclear waste is stored at over 100 sites in 39 states, in a range of different structures and containers. For decades, the nation has been trying to send it all to one secure location. Perhaps there will be a temporary site whose location passes muster with the Supreme Court. But in the meantime, the waste will stay where it is.

  • THE RUSSIA CONNECTIONCan Europe Defend Itself Against a Nuclear-Armed Russia?

    By Christina Pazzanese

    National security expert details what’s being done, what can be done as U.S. appears to rethink decades-long support. Regarding the U.S. nuclear umbrella, which has covered Europe since the 1950s, Richard Hooker says: “Is it reliable? I wouldn’t think so. If Putin were to threaten or actually use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine or, let’s say in Estonia, would the administration respond with nuclear threats of its own? Personally, I have my doubts.”

  • IRAN’S NUKESNegotiating a New Iran Nuclear Deal

    By The Institute for Science and International Security

    In August 2019, the Institute for Science and International Security produced astudy at the request of the administration for an internal discussion. It is not the current administration’s or the Institute’s position, although the Institute supports the general thrust, especially the need to go beyond JCPOA limits and for Iran to provide the IAEA a verified complete nuclear declaration.

  • IRAN’S NUKESCan Israel Destroy Iran's Nuclear Program?

    By Kian Sharifi

    U.S. intelligence has concluded that the odds of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program in the next few months are high, but the jury is out on whether Israel can destroy its archfoe’s nuclear facilities on its own.

  • IRAN’S NUKESResponse to Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Article on Iran’s Short Timeline to a Bomb

    By David Albright and Sarah Burkhard

    Iran can build a crude nuclear weapon too quickly, in about six months, after a decision to do so, but the regime risks being detected early after its decision to do so and all along its subsequent pathway to a bomb. That time is more than sufficient for a devastating military response by Israel, hopefully supported by the United States and other allies.

  • NUCLEAR WEAPOMSHow Russia Neutralized Ukraine’s Tactical Nuclear Weapons

    By Dmytro Shurkhalo

    When Ukraine declared its independence from the U.S.S.R in August 1991., Kyiv came into possession of the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world, after the Soviet Union and the United States.Anestimated 2,800-4,200 tactical nuclear weapons were relinquished to Russia in a move that may have changed the course of history.

  • CHINA WATCHChina Now Has More Than 600 Nuclear Warheads, Pentagon Says

    By Alex Willemyns

    The stockpiling reflects a changing attitude toward nuclear weapons among Chinese military planners, report says.

  • IRAN NUKESTaleghan 2: Pre- and Post Strike Assessment

    By David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Spencer Faragasso, and the Good ISIS Team

    On October 25, 2024, Israel launched an attack on Iran that destroyed multiple buildings within the Parchin Military Complex. One target stood out–a building used for nuclear weapons development purposes under Iran’s Amad Plan in the early 2000s.

  • IRAN’S NUKESIran Increases Enrichment Activities to Dangerous Levels: IAEA

    By David Albright and Sarah Burkhard

    The most recent IAEA report sounded an alarm about a dangerous increase in Iran’s enrichment activities at the Fordow enrichment plant. No longer constrained by the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew in 2018, Iran can now decide to produce10-15 kg of weapon grade uranium (WGU) per month, an annual rate of 120 to 130 kg WGU per year, enough for about five nuclear weapons. Iran could supplement this at any point by using its existing stock of 60 percent highly enriched uranium (HEU).

  • NUCLEAR WEAPONSStopping the Bomb

    By Leda Zimmerman

    When one country learns that another country is trying to make a nuclear weapon, what options does it have to stop the other country from achieving that goal? While the query may be straightforward, answers are anything but. One scholar identifies a suite of strategies states use to prevent other nations from developing nuclear weapons.

  • NUCLEAR WARThe Unthinkable: What Nuclear War in Europe Would Look Like

    By Amos Chapple

    If Russia were to launch a massive nuclear strike on Ukraine or Western Europe, there is not much the continent could do to stop it. NATO’s internal calculations reportedly predict that in the event of an all-out attack from Russia, the military bloc has “less than 5 percent” of the air defenses needed.

  • NUCLEAR WARThe World Isn’t Taking Putin’s Nuclear Threats Seriously – the History of Propaganda Suggests I Should

    By Colin Alexander

    Vladimir Putin has spoken several times about using nuclear weapons since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. To believe that Putin is not serious about using nuclear weapons is a dangerous assumption to make.