Nuclear
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) blasted the decision by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to approve the exemption of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from the regulations for emergency planning and preparedness.
Markey, who serves on the committee, wrote to the Nuclear... Read More »
Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) reintroduced Tuesday legislation is designed to reduce the nation’s nuclear weapons budget by $75 billion over the next decade.
The Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act would enhance national security and cut what they... Read More »
Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) recently introduced a measure reauthorizing Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) funding, noting it advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies in early development stages.
The ARPA-E... Read More »
A new facility, or bank, opened that will deliver low enriched uranium (LEU) to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) facility in Kazakhstan.
“This is a historic achievement for the IAEA and the government of Kazakhstan, and I am grateful for the hard work and perseverance needed to... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) is calling upon President Donald Trump to remove nuclear weapons stored in Turkey.
Markey, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. stores roughly 50 B61 nuclear weapons at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. The airbase is located about 250 miles... Read More »
Lawmakers are urging the Department of Defense (DoD) to prevent delaying the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) as a replacement for the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) recently joined a group of legislators in forwarding correspondence to... Read More »
The National Threat Initiative (NTI) worked with hospitals, research universities, and other stakeholders to prepare a report with effective and secure solutions to support Congressional efforts to eliminate cesium-137 from facilities around the United States.
The report -- Preventing a Dirty... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has earmarked funds to aid the development of new technology that could bolster emergency preparedness by producing platelets outside the human body.
If the two-year, $4.9 million agreement between HHS Biomedical Advanced Research and Development... Read More »
Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) recently secured strong funding in the 2020 Energy and Water Appropriations bill to extend and refurbish nuclear warheads bolstering the nation’s defense.
“Given the security challenges around the globe, it’s vital we invest in our nuclear warheads and nuclear... Read More »
A group of 18 U.S. senators recently urged the Senate Armed Services Committee to include three nuclear weapons provisions in the final National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020.
The provisions were included in the House-passed version of the bill.
The first provision would ban... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has contracted with a firm to aid a burn imaging device’s development.
The two-year, $27.3 million contract with SpectralMD, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, advances the... Read More »
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has earmarked $600 million for its first exascale supercomputer, which will perform research to maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
The NNSA, housed under the Department of Energy, has signed an agreement with Cray Inc. to build El... Read More »
The United States officially withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty last week, ending a 30-year ban on a class of weapons that both the United States and the then Soviet Union, now Russia, recognized as particularly dangerous and destabilizing.
These land-based... Read More »
A bill urging the Trump Administration to place limits on Russia’s strategic nuclear arms was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week.
The legislation – sponsored by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) -- calls for extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) five recommendations as a means of addressing nuclear security program concerns.
The IAEA executes its nuclear security program under its Division of Nuclear Security through four subprograms,... Read More »
In 2018, there were 156 incidents in 23 countries where nuclear and other radioactive materials were found outside of regulatory control, according to the updated annual edition of the Global Incidents and Trafficking Database.
The database is produced by the James Martin Center for... Read More »
Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) recently met with Secretary of Defense nominee Mark Esper to emphasize the importance of North Dakota’s nuclear and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) missions to national defense.
Hoeven, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, also expressed the need to... Read More »
House legislators have adopted an amendment prohibiting U.S. sales of nuclear power equipment to Saudi Arabia without safeguards preventing nuclear weapon development.
Officials said the House adopted the language as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which is expected to... Read More »
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Safeguards Statement for 2018 recently determined that the amount of nuclear material subject to IAEA safeguards is continuing to rise.
“Since 2010, the amount of nuclear material under safeguards has increased by 24 percent,” Massimo Aparo,... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officials said the 2019 Indianapolis 500 aided the department’s nuclear, biological and chemical threat detection process.
During the event, an advanced network of sensors kept continued vigilance, providing security real-time awareness of any... Read More »
The International Atomic Energy Agency recently confirmed Iran violated the restrictions on stockpiling enriched uranium specified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In response, three Republican senators sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to put... Read More »
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing (PAHPA) Innovation Act, S. 1379, became law on Monday with the president’s signature, prompting accolades from national stakeholders, company executives and federal lawmakers.
The far-reaching law ensures the United States will be better... Read More »
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, the Alliance for Biosecurity, and the Trust for America’s Health on Wednesday applauded the overdue reauthorization of the nation’s all-hazards preparedness and response law addressing public health threats, whether naturally occurring or... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the bipartisan Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing (PAHPA) Innovation Act of 2019, which now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature to make it law.
S. 1379, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) on May... Read More »
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley Jr. took advantage of a recent speaking engagement to lend insight regarding Russia’s and China’s nuclear weapons capabilities and modernization.
Ashley shared the information while addressing the Hudson Institute in... Read More »
The full U.S. Senate on Thursday approved bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the nation’s all-hazards preparedness and response law.
“I am pleased my Senate colleagues joined me in supporting this legislation that ensures America’s biodefenses are ready for the public health... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a series of recommendations to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to address the agency's nuclear terrorism deterrence limitations.
GAO officials said the recommendations stem from an examination of the extent to which DHS tracks... Read More »
Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) introduced last week a measure designed to retain Russian nuclear forces limits.
The Richard G. Lugar and Ellen O. Tauscher Act to Maintain Limits on Russian Nuclear Forces calls for an extension of New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New... Read More »
Five Democratic senators recently sponsored a bill that would preserve the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
The treaty, enacted in February 2011, reduces by 74 percent the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads from the original treaty’s limit of 6,000. It is the final... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is testing new chemical sensors that are pushing the ability to detect chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats to potentially region-scale efforts.
The effort is coming of age under the SIGMA+ initiative, which is a... Read More »
In 2012, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
completed its Kansas City facility and the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) found workload projections have increased significantly from earlier
forecasts.
The facility produces or procures more than 80 percent of... Read More »
A
bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would ensure that Congress
has the authority to review all materials related to the transfer or nuclear technologies
and information.
These
transfers are known as Part 810 agreement whereby the U.S. government
authorizes persons or companies... Read More »
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) officials have awarded a pair of $50,000 grants to winners of the organization's Nuclear Security Index Challenge, which seeks to improve nuclear security conditions worldwide.
The first grant was awarded to Travis Carless (RAND Corporation), Kenneth Redus... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently
issued three recommendations for the director of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) in regards to determining security measures for radioactive
material.
The GAO is required to review NRC's security requirements
for high-risk... Read More »
Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) is lending full support to the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s effort to continue oversight of the U.S. / Saudi Arabia civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Committee officials recently released a report calling for increased Congressional direction in the... Read More »
