Digests and Blog

This op-ed originally appeared in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. As he enters his final months in office, President Obama is still evaluating options to reduce the role and number of nuclear weapons in US strategy. His final decisions are expected before the end of October. In a recent article in the Bulletin, we argued that the president should declare that the United States would not be the first to use nuclear weapons. In addition, he should direct a reduction in the size of the US nuclear arsenal. Not only could America make significant cuts to its nuclear forces without harming…

The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2310, which reaffirmed the international moratorium on nuclear weapon testing, on Sept. 23. The resolution followed a Sept. 15 statement by the permanent five members of the UN Security Council committing not to defeat “the object and purpose” of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as required under customary international law. It also acknowledged the value of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization’s International Monitoring System. “This first-ever, CTBT-specific Security Council resolution (2310) is a very important reaffirmation…

  In a high-profile panel discussion hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, representatives from the five states recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as nuclear-weapon states (the P5) discussed arms control and the future of strategic stability. This discussion took place after a P5 Conference in Washington D.C., the seventh in a series that began in 2009. After the discussion, the P5 released a Joint Statement in which they emphasized their continued support for the NPT. The P5 committed to working together and with other States Parties to…

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) September quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear program confirms that Iran is continuing to abide by the limitations put in place under the July 2015 agreement reached between Tehran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) group of states. While it is unfortunate that the IAEA does not report publicly on every restriction put in place by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran’s continued compliance is encouraging. The September 8 report noted that Iran’s uranium enrichment remains below…

The Stimson Center and the Arms Control Association hosted a panel discussion about the history and progress of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) 20 years after it was signed on September 24, 1996. To date, 183 states have signed the treaty. Represented in the panel were senior officials from states that have been strong supporters of the treaty over the past 20 years. Rose Gottemoeller, the undersecretary for arms control and international security and Adam Scheinman, the special representative of the president of nuclear nonproliferation reiterated the United States’ strong…

Hankyoreh: North Korea its 5th nuclear test at the eight months after 4th nuclear test on January. It was regarded as very unusual beacause North Korea conducted nuclear test at intervals of two or three years so far. What do you think is its implication in terms of technology? Daryl Kimball: The cumulative knowledge of the five nuclear test explosions since 2006, and the dozens of ballistic missile tests, especially in the last 12 months, has provided the DPRK’s technical and military teams greater confidence that they can deploy warheads on their short and medium-range ballistic missiles.…

Fifth North Korean Nuclear Test Is Alarming and Cause for Action toFreeze Its Programs and Reinforce Global Testing Taboo Statement by Executive Director Daryl G. Kimball andDirector for Nonproliferation Policy Kelsey Davenport, 5am GMT, September 9, 2016 Seismic activity indicates that North Korea conducted a fifth nuclear test on Sept. 8 at 9:00 a.m. local time. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna reported that more than two dozen of the seismic stations that are part of the treaty’s International Monitoring System confirmed that the seismic event was in the 5.0…

North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 8. The test was met with international condemnation and calls for increased sanctions on North Korea. Russia issued “the strongest possible condemnation,” and both Japan and the United States condemned the test in “the strongest possible terms” in official statements following the test. The UN Security Council convened on Sept. 9 in an emergency session to discuss the test. “The test explosion is yet another unpleasant reminder that the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear program continues to grow. Current…

The first Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing dealing with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in over a decade took place on September 7. Attendance was high, with Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) presiding, ranking Democrat Senator Cardin (D-Md.), and Senators Risch (R-Idaho), Rubio (R-Fla.), Flake (R-Ariz.), Perdue (R-Ga.), Menendez (D-N.J.), Shaheen (D-N.H.), Murphy (D-Conn.), Udall (D-N.M.), and Markey (D-Mass.) in attendance. The hearing was convened to discuss the Barack Obama administration’s proposed United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) and P5…

For the last week, I have sat in a comfortable room in Geneva, along the lake with a picturesque view of the Alps. Joining 500 other representatives of governments, industry, international organizations and civil society, I had come for the Second Conference of States-Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the global treaty adopted in 2013 to regulate the international trade in conventional arms. But while we sat in the room discussing how many working groups to establish, people around the world were suffering and dying from the very weapons the ATT is intended to regulate. Instead of…