Congress is considering whether to continue research that started in 2016 into using low-enriched uranium (LEU) to replace weapon-grade highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to fuel naval nuclear propulsion reactors. Such a switch would reduce risks of nuclear proliferation and avoid the need to restart production of weapons-grade uranium for the first time since 1992. Rapidly Closing […]
Can the Iran nuclear deal be saved?
Research Analyst Samuel Hickey was quoted in a Vox article about the challenges to reaching an agreement on a possible revival of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran will likely argue that the United States is the one that blew the deal up, and Tehran stayed in compliance for a year, so it’s up to the […]
Fact Sheet: Congress’ Options on Civil Nuclear Waste Disposal
The disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel is an environmental and economic responsibility for the United States government. Successive administrations have failed to find a solution since the nuclear chain-reaction was envisioned for civilian energy generation in 1946. Through the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), Congress assigned the management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel to the […]
Op-ed: Preventing an accidental nuclear crisis in Iran and beyond
Research Analyst Samuel Hickey wrote an op-ed in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists arguing that despite its politicization in Congress, the Iran nuclear deal represents the next-generation nuclear verification design to prevent any country from cheating its way to a nuclear weapon in a hurry. “There has been no sign as to when nuclear talks […]
NATO 2030: What the new Strategic Concept should say about nuclear weapons
By Shane Ward Eleven years after its last Strategic Concept, NATO faces its most critical self-assessment since the Cold War. “Our security environment is more complex and contested than ever before,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated earlier this year. “We are adapting to a more competitive world.” The new Strategic Concept, which establishes NATO’s “enduring […]
