Between 1944 and 1994, the U.S. government produced 99.5 metric tons of plutonium for use in an estimated 70,000 nuclear weapons. Today, roughly 80% of the U.S. nuclear arsenal has been discarded, and the United States is struggling to dispose of the surplus plutonium. Currently, a total of 61.2 tons of plutonium is declared excess […]
Non-Proliferation
Why We Still Need to Cooperate with Russia on Nuclear Security
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 dismantled a highly centralized multi-national government, leaving behind 15 newly independent states, an economy in chaotic transition, and an enormous nuclear weapons complex. The sudden meltdown of the military structures that had managed the Soviet nuclear arsenal for decades left destructive weapons, technologies, and materials exposed and […]
Iranian Negotiations: Worth the risk?
After years of negotiations, Iran and the P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) agreed to a deal providing sanctions relief in return for international monitoring and severe restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) established unprecedented access to Iran’s nuclear facilities and created dialogue between […]
Fact Sheet: Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
The office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) is responsible for U.S. nuclear security and nonproliferation operations. As part of the National Nuclear Security Administration within the Department of Energy, DNN works closely with international partners, U.S. federal agencies, national laboratories, and the private sector to secure and/or dispose nuclear and radiological material. DNN also houses […]
Cooperation Amidst Conflict: The Importance of Common Ground in U.S.-Russia Relations
By: Abigail Stowe-Thurston The video is distressing: two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft fly aggressively toward a U.S. naval destroyer in the Baltic Sea, missing the ship by just 30 feet. No, this wasn’t a Cold War encounter – it’s footage from April 12, 2016, an emblem of the current geopolitical strain between the United […]
