Digests and Blog

Presentation by Daryl G. Kimball Executive Director, Arms Control Association Moscow Nuclear Nonproliferation Conference September 7, 2012 Distinguished colleagues, it is an honor to address you at this important meeting on the value of and the path forward on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Since the opening for signature of the CTBT nearly sixteen years ago, the vast majority of the world’s nations have signed and ratified the Treaty. They recognize that nuclear testing is a dangerous and unnecessary vestige of the past and understand that the CTBT is a cornerstone of the…

Nuclear Testing Index, August 29, 2012 2,045: Total number of nuclear weapons tests before the CTBT was opened for signature in September 1996. 9.14 days: Average time between nuclear blasts. 7: Total number of nuclear weapons test explosions after the CTBT was opened for signature in September 1996. 831.4 days: Average time between nuclear blasts. 1,054: Total number of U.S. nuclear weapons tests, involving 1,148 detonations. 928: Number of nuclear weapons tests conducted in Nevada. 15 megatons: Total yield of the largest U.S. explosion, codenamed Bravo. 715: Total number of Soviet/…

Today is the official International Day Against Nuclear Tests, established in 2009 on the anniversary of the closure of the main former Soviet test site of Semipalatinsk, where more than 456 nuclear explosions contaminated the land and its inhabitants.Largely as a result of the courageous efforts of the Kazakh people to close down the Semipalatinsk site, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declared a nuclear test moratorium on October 5, 1991. This, in turn, prompted a bipartisan coalition of U.S. legislators, including Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Oregon), George Mitchell (D-Maine), Rep. Mike…

Note: correction on Fordow centrifuge totals (3pm, Aug. 30) By Tom Z. Collina and Daryl G. Kimball The IAEA's latest quarterly report on Iran, now in circulation, finds that Tehran has installed more machines for uranium enrichment in its Fordow underground facility, but has not started to use them. This means that Iran has not significantly increased its rate of enrichment at this facility since the IAEA's previous report from May. Satellite image of Iran's Fordow enrichment facility near the city of Qom. Moreover, although Iran has enriched additional uranium to almost 20%--a level that…

By Daryl G. Kimball, with research support from Daria Medvedev and Wanda Archy Today is the official International Day Against Nuclear Tests, established in 2009 on the anniversary of the closure of the main former Soviet test site of Semipalatinsk, where more than 456 nuclear explosions contaminated the land and its inhabitants. Largely as a result of the courageous efforts of the Kazakh people to close down the Semipalatinsk site, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declared a nuclear test moratorium on October 5, 1991. This, in turn, prompted a bipartisan coalition of U.S. legislators,…

By Daryl G. Kimball Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr.--an influential nuclear arms control practitioner, advocate, scholar, and mentor for new generations of weapons and security experts--died on August 10 at the age of 87 of cancer at his home in Washington D.C. Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr. in 2003 Spurgeon was known to his many colleagues and arms control acquaintances the world over as practical, professional, persistent, and incredibly knowledgable and well-connected. He was a walking, talking nuclear arms control Google search engine before there was an internet. His long career put him in the center of…

by Daryl G. Kimball The first nuclear bomb test in July 1945 and the surprise attacks on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 of that year ignited a global debate about the role, the morality, and the control of nuclear weapons that continues to this day. August 6 commemoration of the first atomic bombing in Hiroshima City. Then, as now, some judged that the catastrophic dangers inherent in nuclear weapons outweigh any justification for their existence or at least for large numbers of such weapons, leading them to seek meaningful nuclear restraints. Others considered nuclear…

 An Iranian Bank designated as a proliferation financing risk by the U.S. Treasury DepartmentPhoto Credit: Getty Images By Kelsey Davenport The Administration and Congress are increasing the pressure on Tehran, but in their attempts to tighten the squeeze with further restrictive measures this week, cracks in the international support for sanctions are beginning to show. The White House and the Hill would do well to remember that the purpose of sanctions is to drive Iran to the negotiation table, and not to drive international partners like China away from the United States. Fractures began…

 Senator Lugar inspects a Soviet SS-18 ICBM being readied for destruction in 2002. Photo Credit: Office of Senator Richard Lugar By Kelsey Davenport The American Security Project (ASP) honored Senator Richard Lugar (R–Ind.) on Wednesday for his extensive contributions to national security as the first recipient of an ASP award for leadership in national security. ASP will annually present "the Lugar Award" to an individual that embodies the Senator's efforts to solve pressing national security concerns. As a former intern in Senator Lugar's Washington DC office, I felt honored to be present…

 Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) at a hearing on the Law of the Sea Treaty. By Lauren Weiss Despite the United States' vital role in crafting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the 1970s and amending it in 1994, the treaty has never come to a vote in the Senate. Commonly called the Law of the Sea Treaty, it outlines the rules governing maritime activity, covering issues such as navigational rights, territorial sea limits, and economic jurisdiction over various resources. Following attempts made under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the Obama administration has also…