As the Cold War threatened to heat up beyond control, many people were worried that dozens of countries might go nuclear. Fortunately, that didn’t come to pass, thanks in large part to the world’s most important nuclear treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — or NPT — which turns 50 this year. The NPT is the […]
Fact Sheet: Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreements
Updated March 2021 Under Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, the United States cannot make any significant transfers of nuclear material, equipment, or components to another nation without a congressionally-approved agreement. The United States has so-called “123 agreements” with 24 countries, and is currently engaged in formal negotiations for a nuclear cooperation agreement […]
Fact Sheet: Nuclear Proliferation Risks in Nuclear Energy Programs
Updated May 2025 A major concern about the spread of peaceful nuclear energy programs is the possibility that facilities constructed for use in a nuclear energy program could eventually be used to produce nuclear weapons. Specifically, the key risk lies with the nuclear fuel cycle because facilities and technologies used in the enrichment and reprocessing […]
Fiscal Year 2019 Defense Spending Briefing Book
The Fiscal Year 2019 Budget in Context Introduction President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget requests $617.1 billion for the Defense Department’s annual “base” discretionary budget, which is more than $90 billion higher than FY 18 enacted levels. This amount does not include certain other security spending, including funding for nuclear weapons-related work in […]
Iran Deal Decertification: Options for Congress
The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) requires that the President certify Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran every 90 days. If the president does not certify compliance, Congress is given a 60-day window during which it can re-impose sanctions through an expedited process. On October 13 2017, President Trump announced […]
