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BIDEN PLANNED FOR RUSSIAN NUCLEAR USE IN UKRAINE Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats have been a constant feature of the ongoing war in Ukraine. In addition to supporting democracy and Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Russia’s nuclear blackmail is a key reason why the international community should remain engaged. Normalizing nuclear threats as a foreign policy tool would be catastrophic. However, taking them as only threats would also be a mistake. In that context, recent news reports indicate that the Biden administration planned rigorously for potential Russian nuclear use in Ukraine. While details of what U.S. officials would do are not available, senior U.S. officials including the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of State and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency were dispatched to engage their Russian counterparts. This outreach was paired with collaboration with allies, and even non-allies like India and China, to discourage Russia from potentially using a nuclear weapon. |
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THE HILL EXPLORES OVER-BUDGET REPLACEMENT MISSILE PROGRAM IN ARTICLE SERIES Earlier this year, the Air Force informed Congress that the proposed replacement for Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), known as the Sentinel, is way over budget already. The program triggered a breach of the Nunn-McCurdy Act, which requires the Pentagon to evaluate alternatives to the program. Recently, Center Research Analyst Connor Murray was quoted in two articles in The Hill’s series about the Sentinel. Murray argued that the case for the Sentinel and its cost to taxpayers “has not been adequately made.” Murray also argued that the associated increase in plutonium pit production, which some argue is necessary for these new weapons, comes with key “unanswered questions.” |
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FUTURE OF U.S. AID TO UKRAINE REMAINS UNCERTAIN The war in Ukraine continues on its 752nd day. Russian strikes have intensified in the port city of Odesa. Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), called on the alliance’s members to continue to send military aid to Ukraine. He commented that “the Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition.” The fear is that with resources becoming ever more stretched, Russian troops could advance further back into Ukraine. In the United States, an additional aid bill remains stalled after it passed the Senate over one month ago. Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) offered some positive news for supporters of aid claiming he plans to bring a Ukraine-only bill to the House floor under the so-called “suspension of the rules” process. This would require two thirds of the House to approve the measure, meaning significant support from House Democrats. |
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OPPENHEIMER AND OTHER FILMS DRAW NECESSARY ATTENTION TO NUCLEAR ISSUES You know that we’ve been following Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer, about the so-called father of the atomic bomb, since we learned it would be coming out last year. While after watching it we expressed our disappointment that the film omitted critical elements of the story of the dawn of the nuclear age — namely the Indigenous people who lived near the test site and became the world’s first nuclear victims — we remained hopeful that the movie would draw much-needed attention back to nuclear weapons issues, and it has. We have seen increased traffic on our website and social media thanks to people looking for more information about Oppenheimer and nuclear weapons, seeking ways to finally put an end to Oppenheimer’s nuclear nightmare. Further, director Nolan has been vocal about his concerns about nuclear proliferation and has openly praised the work of organizations like us, saying after the Academy Awards that while the film ends on a note of despair, “despair is not the answer to the nuclear question… It’s very important that rather than despair, in reality, people are looking at advocacy. They’re supporting organizations who are working to pressure politicians and leaders to reduce the number of nuclear weapons to reduce the number of nuclear weapons on the planet and make the world safer.” We couldn’t agree more. We have also seen a number of other nuclear films pop up in the past few months, like Netflix documentary Einstein and the Bomb and Netflix docuseries Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War. While we haven’t yet watched every minute of every film, we are hopeful and confident that more attention on our issues is a very good thing for our organization and the cause of nuclear disarmament. |
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NEW ‘AT THE BRINK’ SERIES FROM NEW YORK TIMES DIVES DEEP INTO NUCLEAR ISSUES The New York Times has launched a new must-read series called At the Brink focusing on nuclear weapons issues. In her introductory essay, Opinion Editor Kathleen Kingsbury explains the current nuclear landscape, writing that there is “no precedent for the complexity of today’s nuclear era,” and that the same activism that called for a nuclear freeze in 1982 is mostly “inconceivable now.” Writer W.J. Hennigan addresses two critical issues in his first two essays. In the first, he tells the story of what’s at stake, noting that while nuclear war is often considered unimaginable, “In fact, it’s not imagined enough.” In the second, Hennigan addresses the issue of sole authority: the idea that the power to launch nuclear weapons lies entirely within the president’s hands. He seeks to answer the question: should any one person have that power? (We don’t think so!) The fourth part of the series is a fictionalized audio essay that examines the effects of just one nuclear detonation. Like the rest of the series, it is informed by research, hundreds of hours of interviews with experts and accounts from those who have survived nuclear fallout. |
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INDIA TESTS MULTIPLE-WARHEAD TARGETING TECHNOLOGY India announced this past week that it had conducted another flight test of its Agni-5 ICBM, but this time outfitted with a capability that allows it to deliver multiple warheads to different targets. This marked India’s first foray into Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) technology and comes at a time when multiple nuclear states are either explicitly developing the capability or expressing interest in it. |
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NORTH KOREA CONTINUES CRUISE MISSILE TESTS AS U.S. WARNS OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT Kim Jong Un has overseen additional tests of a new cruise missile variant, the Padasuri-6, in recent weeks and most recently undertook long-range artillery drills in response to the U.S.-ROK joint exercise Freedom Shield. In addition to the artillery demonstrations, Korean People’s Army ground forces also simulated infiltration maneuvers around border outposts. This week, the U.S. Intelligence Community in its annual threat assessment highlighted growing potential use of chemical weapons by North Korea, while warning of its expanding partnerships with both Russia and China. Meanwhile, South Korea’s foreign ministry disbanded the Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters, the department tasked with negotiating with North Korea on matters of peace and denuclearization, possibly signaling a shift away from diplomatic engagement. |
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IRAN URGES END TO PROXY ATTACKS ON U.S. FORCES, REFUSES INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS After a series of U.S. retaliatory strikes against Iran-aligned militia groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, there has been a concerted effort by Iranian leaders to urge proxies to pull back on direct attacks against U.S. and coalition forces and prevent the prospect of a broader regional war. Meanwhile, Iran has reportedly agreed to deliver more than 400 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles to Russia to aid in its war against Ukraine. This comes on the heels of the announcement of a deeper bilateral partnership between the two nations that could see greater exchange of military technologies. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported in recent weeks that Iran has increased its stockpiles of enriched uranium and continues to refuse access to IAEA inspectors at some nuclear sites. In response, the United States has again urged Iran to cooperate with the IAEA or face possible action within the UN. |
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CENTER HOSTS SYMPOSIUM ON WOMEN IN THE FIELD In celebration of Women’s History Month, on March 27, the Center is hosting its Ambassador Susan Burk Symposium on Women and Nuclear Weapons: From Engagement to Empowerment, to highlight the experiences of women in the field. It seeks to explore the important question: Why is it vital to have women in the room when nuclear policy issues are discussed, considered and formulated? We will be joined by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and former Center Senior Policy Director Alexandra Bell and nuclear policy expert and Center board member Sharon Squassoni. There is no virtual component, but if you are in the DC area, you are welcome to attend this no-cost event. Learn more and RSVP online. |
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RADIATION VICTIMS FINALLY GET SOME GOOD NEWS On March 7, the Senate approved extending and expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). The bill, offered by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), significantly expanded RECA to make more victims of the United States’ nuclear production and testing legacy who developed cancer and other serious illnesses eligible receive federal compensation. The strong bipartisan vote was 69-30. RECA is designed to compensate people in a number of states who suffered radiation-borne illnesses from aboveground nuclear testing (people known as downwinders) and as a result of uranium mining. The Senate previously endorsed a version of this bill as part of last year’s National Defense Authorization Act, but the measure was dropped in the House-Senate conference. It is not yet clear whether House Speaker Mike Johnson will bring the Senate-passed RECA legislation to the House Floor. |
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OP-ED: BANNING CROSSBOWS AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS Senior Policy Director John Erath wrote a fascinating op-ed published in Geopolitical Monitor about arms control throughout history. In “From Crossbows to Nuclear Weapons: Arms Control in an Imperfect World,” Erath draws comparisons between the Pope banning crossbows around 1096 and efforts to unilaterally ban nuclear weapons today. Despite the Pope’s decree, crossbows didn’t simply disappear. “If the ultimate goal of those who try to ban weapons, be they crossbows or nuclear devices, is simply to exclude the use of such devices, it misses the point,” he writes. “Rather, the goal of any arms control effort should be to make the world safer. While it is certain that the world would be safer without nuclear weapons, disarmament is but one means to the end of a peaceful world — and not the only one.” |
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NEW ON THE CENTER WEBSITE: BARBENHEIMER, RUSSIAN SPACE NUKES AND A LOOK AT THE NUCLEAR ENTERPRISE Keep Calm and Orbit On: In his latest analysis, Research Analyst Shawn Rostker explains why the recent disclosure of classified intelligence by Rep. Mike Turner represents a more serious threat to U.S. national security than long-standing Russian interest in space-based nuclear weapons. “Barbenheimer:” Nuclear Weapons and Their Diffusion Through Pop Culture: In the latest essay from our Next Up in Arms Control blog series for young and underrepresented voices, Anne Alessandra Cuados Gutiérrez writes about how pop culture and society can be more sensitive to nuclear weapons issues without compromising creative freedom. Nuclear Security Enterprise fact sheet: The Center’s latest fact sheet explains the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, formerly known as the Nuclear Weapons Complex, what each of its nine sites is responsible for and how together they contribute to U.S. nuclear policy. |
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