Nuclear
Following identification of the need to quickly share information across jurisdictions, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) of the Department of Homeland Security has been working with the RadResponder network on several national, radiation-focused tools.
This partnership has been in... Read More »
A comprehensive update to the nation’s soon-to-expire pandemic and all-hazards law has been unveiled in the U.S. House where Energy and Commerce Committee members have painstakingly produced a bipartisan reauthorization to bolster America’s defense against chemical, biological, radiological or... Read More »
Several organizations, including the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) biosecurity program, received a grant last week to create a Global Health Security (GHS) Index.
The GHS Index will assess countries’ capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to high consequence biological events. This... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) participated in a conference in Central Asia last week that focused on strengthening radiological security in Central Asia.
The focus of the conference was to identify ways to eliminate, secure, or replace the most vulnerable radioactive sources in central... Read More »
Triad National Security, LLC was awarded a $25 billion contract last month to operate the Los Alamos National Laboratory by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
Consisting of Battelle, the University of California and Texas A&M University,... Read More »
After a nine-day legal and regulatory review, a team of International Atomic Agency (IAEA) researchers has concluded that Austria is committed to nuclear and radiation safety and made recommendations for improvements.
The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) team recommended steps to... Read More »
A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) went on an eight-day mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to review its infrastructure to develop a nuclear power program.
The UAE is building its first nuclear power plant at the Barakah site in Abu Dhabi. The IAEA’s... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) Global Biosecurity Dialogue (GBD) brought more than 60 government officials, international organizations, nuclear experts and civil society leaders together in London last week to discuss solutions to strengthen global biosecurity and biosafety.... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently conducted a nuclear proliferation reporting analysis, determining the documents did not address several requirements and lacked vital details.
The work stemmed from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015, which... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) launched an advisory group for its recently expanded Global Biological Policy and Programs.
The advisory group provides strategic guidance on the program’s effort to reduce global biological risks. It will be chaired by former commissioner of the Food and... Read More »
Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are seeking to amend the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to ensure Congress continues a role in authorizing the development of new nuclear weapons.
The senators said the amendment is needed because the Trump Administration is... Read More »
Top nuclear experts maintain the global nonproliferation regime is not faring well in today’s current policy climate, according to a recent Simson Center hosted discussion on The Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) at Fifty.
Susan Burk, former special representative of the President for Nuclear... Read More »
A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) estimates to refurbish components of nuclear bombs were cost-effective and followed best practices, but the process could use improvements.
NNSA estimated that the cost to... Read More »
The European Union (EU)-U.S. Joint Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs held in Bulgaria on Tuesday and Wednesday allowed leaders to discuss joint efforts to combat terrorism, information sharing, efforts to prevent radicalization, aviation security, and chemical, biological,... Read More »
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on May 23 approved 22-1 the pending Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018, S.2852.
S. 2852, introduced on May 15 by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), would reauthorize certain programs under... Read More »
The upcoming Clade X exercise hosted by the Center for Health Security, which is part of the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will show the world how United States presidential advisors would handle policy decisions for an unfolding mock pandemic crisis.
“The... Read More »
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz called President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday “a major strategic mistake” that would impair U.S. ability to deter an Iranian nuclear program as well as its ability to prevent nuclear proliferation... Read More »
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal on Tuesday was applauded by U.S. Reps. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Dan Donovan (R-NY), who argued that the agreement was “deeply flawed” and “prioritized Iran’s interests over American security.”
In... Read More »
Ahead of an anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un later this month, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) noted on Tuesday that the “critical question” is whether North Korea is willing to relinquish nuclear facilities, materials, and bombs in a “verifiable,... Read More »
Amid conflicting reports about a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions, the White House said on Monday it is consistent with what the United States has long known in that Iran currently has a clandestine nuclear weapons... Read More »
Relief units and firefighters, police, rescue services and disaster management emergency physicians are all too familiar with the process of caring for patients who have become ill, or were injured by contact with chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents, according to the German... Read More »
A new paper from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) provided recommendations for mitigating risks related to separated plutonium.
As compared to highly enriched uranium (HEU), separated plutonium has not received enough attention as a security risk, NTI Counselor John Carlson said in the... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) announced recently several leadership changes within the organization.
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Nathalie Tocci, director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Italy, joined the organization's Board of... Read More »
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) teams from across the country recently underwent classroom and field training as part of the Radiological Assistance Program Training for Emergency Response (RAPTER) in Las Vegas.
“RAP team members are often... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week approved Leukine for use in adult and pediatric patients afflicted with Acute Radiation Syndrome, adding a third medical countermeasure to the nation’s stock for radiological and nuclear emergencies.
The drug counters myelosuppression -- a... Read More »
United States preparedness against terrorist attacks from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents includes prep and planning for the public, as well as for the first responders who will be on the front lines during a catastrophic emergency event.
Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the European Commission Joint Research Centre recently held a pilot training course in Tbilisi, Georgia, to further develop technical capabilities to support nuclear forensics investigation.
The four-day program covered crime-scene... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently said that it will soon deliver the next generation of Global Burst Detector (GBD) payloads, the latest space-based nuclear explosion sensors, to the U.S. Air Force.
Following delivery to the U.S. Air Force, GBD payloads will continue... Read More »
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) recently unveiled a new smaller radiation detector invented at the lab that uses a sweeping beam to quickly pinpoint a radiation source to reduce radiation exposure risks for workers.
The detectors use directional sensors to scan through a narrow angle... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is partnering with private-sector users of radioactive sources to encourage them to transition to more secure technologies that do not rely on radioactive sources.
Radioactive sources are used in a range of commercial, medical and research... Read More »
Nuclear experts recently met on Capitol Hill for a panel discussion on the Trump Administration’s recently released Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).
The panel compared the NPR to past U.S. nuclear policy and expressed concerns about the future of the nuclear relationship between the United... Read More »
A bipartisan coalition of senators raised questions on Monday about the use of Vietnam-era Huey helicopters to patrol intercontinental ballistic missile sites across the country, noting that replacement helicopters for a handful of Air Force bases were recently delayed.
In a letter to Air Force... Read More »
Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will present the keynote address during a March 7 seminar in Brussels for members of the European Parliament and will discuss “CBRN — An Invisible Risk. Is... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently hosted a workshop on radiological and nuclear investigations with representatives from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region law enforcement agencies in Tbilisi,... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) this week maintained her laser focus on improving the preparedness of the United States to respond to a pandemic or chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats via formation of the new bipartisan Congressional Biodefense Caucus.
Rep. Brooks and... Read More »
