Top News: Israel’s new prime minister to update Iran policy before Biden meeting Axios Spending $2 trillion on new nuclear weapons is a risk to more than just your wallet Business Insider Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S. hold phone talks The Korea Herald United States Spending $2 trillion on new nuclear weapons is a risk to more than just your wallet Business Insider7/7/2021 As long as nuclear weapons exist, we must have a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent. However, simultaneous modernization efforts across all three legs of the nuclear triad exceed that scope and are an unnecessarily costly and risky way to achieve our deterrence requirements. FY22 Budget Request: National Nuclear Security Administration American Institute of Physics7/7/2021 Within a flat overall budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Biden administration proposes to ramp up funding for plutonium production while paring back certain stockpile R&D activities, such as inertial confinement fusion. East Asia Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S. hold phone talks The Korea Herald7/8/2021 South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Noh Kyu-duk, spoke by phone with his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, on Thursday and discussed efforts to advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said. OPINION: North Korea needs the bomb to protect itself from America Foreign PolicyDoug Bandow 7/7/2021 Pyongyang isn’t crazy, just focused on a credible threat. OPINION: China’s nuclear silos and the arms-control fantasy The Wall Street JournalMatthew Kroenig 7/7/2021 The Cold War is over, and Beijing is determined to amass an arsenal worthy of a superpower. Middle East Israel pushing U.S. to keep Trump sanctions on Iran, even if nuke deal resurrected The Times of Israel7/8/2021 Jerusalem recognizes that Biden intent on returning to original agreement, but fears removing curbs could hamper future efforts to halt Tehran’s missile program, regional expansion. U.S. expects seventh round of Iran nuclear talks; no details when Reuters7/7/2021 The United States said on Wednesday it expected a seventh round of indirect U.S.-Iran talks on resuming compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to take place “at the appropriate moment,” but did not say when that might be. IAEA warns of further nuclear deal violations by Iran World Nuclear News7/7/2021 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has informed the agency’s Board of Governors that Iran intends to use indigenously-produced uranium enriched up to 20% U-235 in the manufacture of fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), an IAEA spokesperson told World Nuclear News today. In doing so, as part of a multi-stage process, Iran will also produce uranium metal enriched up to 20% U-235. Nuclear talks teeter on the brink as Iran restarts uranium enrichment Business Insider7/7/ 2021 While a month ago the deal seemed all but done, now the end of the negotiations looks a lot more distant. The change of the guard in Tehran after the June elections was one reason. Now, Iran’s move to continue with its uranium enrichment program will present another challenge for the negotiators. Israel’s new prime minister to update Iran policy before Biden meeting Axios7/7/2021 “There are several questions in the discussions — is the current treading water better or worse than a U.S. return to the deal, if and how Israel can influence the Biden administration, and what the current situation means for developing an Israeli military option.”