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“The Arms Control Association and all of the staff I've worked with over the years … have this ability to speak truth to power in a wide variety of venues.”
– Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
June 2, 2022
Arms Control NOW

Sept. 2011 IAEA Iran Report: Initial Analysis

By Peter Crail The Institute for Science and International Security has posted the latest IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program . The report provides some additional information about recent developments reported in the media regarding Iran's installation of centrifuges at the Fordow plant near Qom and plans to increase enrichment to 20%, but leaves out a critical detail: the type of machines Iran is currently installing at Fordow. Iran initially said that it would begin installing more advanced centrifuge designs at the Fordow plant it has been developing elsewhere. The newer machines can...

The Military Option on Iran: Be Careful What You Wish For

By Peter Crail TIME Magazine has recently highlighted an analysis entitled "Invading Iran: Lessons from Iraq" by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Leif Eckholm, who works in the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the analysis was published by Stanford's Hoover Institution, where Eckholm served as a defense fellow). As the title suggests, the analysis examines many of the challenges in securing a post-invasion Iraq, and how they would be similar, different, or magnified in the context of Iran. One of the key takeaways, however, is a brief cost/...

Five Nuclear Weapon States Meet (Again) on Fissile Impasse In Geneva

By Daryl G. Kimball Earlier today, the original five nuclear weapon states issued a statement following their meeting earlier this week in Geneva regarding the impasse at the Conference on Disarmament and efforts to move forward on talks on a fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT). In the statement issued by the U.S. Department of State spokesperson, the group (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) said: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesperson August 30, 2011 STATEMENT BY VICTORIA NULAND, SPOKESPERSON P-5 Meeting in Geneva Following up on their commitment made...

International Day Against Nuclear Tests: Translating Words Into Action

By Daryl G. Kimball August 29, 2011 is the second official International Day Against Nuclear Tests . It coincides with the 20th anniversary of the historic events that led to the closure of the former Soviet nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk, where more than 456 explosions contaminated the land and its inhabitants. Citizens of the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan protest nuclear weapons testing at the Soviet nuclear testing site near Semipalatinsk in August, 1989. Photo by Yuri Kuidin. The courageous efforts of the Kazakh people and their allies forced Moscow's communist regime to halt...

International Day Against Nuclear Tests: Translating Words Into Action

August 29, 2011 is the second official International Day Against Nuclear Tests . It coincides with the 20th anniversary of the historic events that led to the closure of the former Soviet nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk, where more than 456 explosions contaminated the land and its inhabitants. The courageous efforts of the Kazakh people and their allies forced Moscow’s communist regime to halt nuclear weapons testing and catalyzed actions elsewhere around the globe that eventually led to a U.S. nuclear testing halt and the negotiation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The damage caused...

Senator Inhofe, There You Go Again

Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) By Greg Thielmann Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) has taken his tried and (un)true mantra about the Iranian ICBM threat on the road , according to recent reporting from his home state. In language nearly identical to his statement at a Senate hearing in Washington last year, Inhofe said: "We know – and it is not even classified for me to tell you today – that Iran will have the capability of delivering a weapon of mass destruction to western Europe and the eastern United States by 2015." As a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Inhofe should know...

To Russia, With Love?

By Greg Thielmann Last week's 20th anniversary commemorations of the 1991 Soviet coup attempt prompted some personal reflections on other events affecting relations between Washington and Moscow during that turbulent period. Two years before the coup, a visit by U.S. warships to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet's home port of Sevastopol made a significant contribution to thawing Cold War animosities. At that time, the Associated Press reported a "riotous welcome" from the citizens of that closed Crimean city, a characterization I can attest to as a U.S. Embassy officer witnessing the event. USS...

Fissile Material Removal Underscores Need for Full Congressional Support

By Daryl G. Kimball Arms control works when governments and political leaders work together and commit the necessary resources to get the job done. This week, the South African government and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the successful return 13.8 pounds of highly enriched uranium to the United States for disposal. The operation is part of the long-running Global Threat Reduction Initiative, which converts nuclear reactors to run on non-weapon-grade low enriched uranium (LEU) rather than highly enriched uranium (HEU). The South African operation returned U.S.-...

Sen. Mark O. Hatfield: Champion of Saner Nuclear Weapons Policies

By Daryl G. Kimball Former Senator Mark O. Hatfield, R-Oregon (Image Source: AP) This past weekend, former Republican Senator from Oregon, Mark O. Hatfield, passed away at the age of 89. Hatfield was the real deal: working across the aisle, he was a pragmatic idealist who took on big issues, including the insanity of the nuclear arms race. He was a big part of the long-running effort to end the nuclear weapons threat. The work of organizations such as the Arms Control Association is built upon the foundations for global peace and security built by leaders such as Hatfield. Here are a couple...

Looking for defense cuts? Go nuclear

By Tom Z. Collina The following entry was originally posted on The Hill's Congress Blog on August 2, 2011. As the dust settles on the just-passed budget deal, one thing is becoming clear: there is now high-level bipartisan agreement that the U.S. defense budget will be reduced in a major way, anywhere from $350 to $850 billion over the next decade, according to the White House. And despite defense hawk grumblings, reductions of this magnitude can actually make America safer by forcing leaders to cancel low-priority programs and focus on the ones that really matter. It's time to get serious...

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