• 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.

  • NORTH KOREANorth Korea Explained: What Americans Need to Know

    The Korean Peninsula, with its intricate web of historical tensions, nuclear threats, and geopolitical dynamics, will demand a nuanced and strategic approach from the incoming administration.

  • NUCLEAR ESCALATIONHow to Manage Escalation with Nuclear Adversaries Like China

    By Doug Irving

    Chinese leaders fled Beijing in October 1969, as a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union seemed imminent. They were on the precipice of nuclear war owing to a remarkable series of missteps and miscommunications. The crisis of 1969 holds some important lessons for U.S. military planners as they think through how a future war with China could unfold. It needs a theory of victory that explains not just how it plans to win, but how it plans to win without triggering a nuclear war.

  • ASIAN SECURITYSouth Korea and Nuclear Weapons

    By Ranjit Kumar Dhawan

    The constant threat of North Korean aggression and fears of abandonment by the United States of its security commitment to South Korea have been the primary reasons for Seoul’s nuclear ambitions. More recently, the deepening military alliance between North Korea and Russia has raised serious concerns in South Korea.

  • IRAN’S NUKESWe Need a New Discussion About Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Work

    By David Albright and Sarah Burkhard

    U.S. intelligence is shielding the Biden-Harris administration from having to take serious action on Iran’s nuclear program. While hinting at nuclear weapon activities taking place, the U.S. intelligence community is focusing on public Iranian statements and old news on Iran’s capabilities to produce weapon-grade uranium — but it avoids any type of public discussion on what nuclear weaponization activities Iran may be undertaking, and how soon it can build a nuclear weapon. Likely, because some uncomfortable truths would come out: Iran can do it way too quickly, and initial activities to build the bomb could be difficult to detect.

  • IRAN’S NUKESU.S. Says Iran Nuclear Deal Remains 'Off the Table' as Tehran Calls for 'New Negotiations'

    By Kian Sharifi

    Reviving the Iran nuclear deal remains off the agenda for the Biden administration, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, but the deal “is not on the table right now.”

  • IRAN POLICYAmerica’s Iran Policy Is a Failure − Piecemeal Deterrence and Sanctions Can Go Only So Far

    By Arie Perliger

    A decade of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has failed to contain Iran’s ambitions and has instead substantially contributed to the current escalation of hostilities in the region. Washington’s ability to project power and manage American interests in the Mideast has eroded dramatically since 2010, and, as a result of Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran’s military nuclear program has reached its most advanced stage. The failed policies have culminated in the collapse of American deterrence in the Middle East. Simply put, the U.S. no longer projects enough power there to stop Iranian hostilities.

  • CHINA WATCHWashington-Seoul Alliance Is a “Nuclear Alliance,”: U.S.

    By Eunjung Cho Young Gyo Kim

    A high-ranking U.S. official stressed Tuesday that the U.S.-South Korea alliance is a “nuclear alliance,” reinforcing the South Korean government’s description of the two allies, after the United States and South Korea signed new deterrence guidelines last week.

  • NUCLEAR PROLIFERATIONNonproliferation Researcher Is Retracing Reactor Steps

    Nuclear materials can produce vast amounts of energy. This unique attribute can be harnessed through reactors to provide a reliable, low-carbon electricity source. It can also be used to make weapons.

  • NUCLEAR WEAPONS‘Risks of Nuclear Terrorism Are High and Growing.’ New Tools, Alliances, Renewed Focus Needed, experts recommend

    By Cyrus Moulton

    For roughly 80 years, the United States has managed the threat of nuclear terrorism through nonproliferation treaties, agency programs, intelligence activities, international monitoring support and more, withstanding the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, and 9/11. A National Academies committee wants to ensure the U.S. remains prepared.