Nuclear Policy News – October 26, 2020

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TOP NEWS:

UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reaches 50 ratifications needed for entry into force
ICAN

Hopes dim for nuclear agreement with Russia before election day
Politico

Trump, Biden trade barbs over North Korea’s nukes
Defense News

United States

NNSA to start environmental review of dilute and dispose this year; scope unclear
Exchange Monitor10/23/20
Later this year, the National Nuclear Security Administration will begin a formal review of its program to dispose of the 34 metric tons of plutonium once slated to be recycled into commercial reactor fuel, an agency official said.

Hopes dim for nuclear agreement with Russia before election day
Politico10/23/20
National security adviser Robert O’Brien is cautioning that an agreement to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty for another year is not “a done deal.”

OPINION: The difficult task of nuclear modernization
AEIMackenzie Eaglen
10/23/20
After waiting until the last feasible moment to begin fully modernizing the nuclear triad, the projected cost is significant and the timeline unyielding.

East Asia

ANALYSIS: Elections, nukes, and the future of the South Korea–U.S. alliance
Carnegie EndowmentToby Dalton, Ain Han
10/26/20
The stage is set for a potentially disruptive period in South Korea–U.S. security relations. If tensions are allowed to build, the alliance could rupture.

Biden says he’d meet Kim Jong Un only if nuclear arsenal reduced
Bloomberg10/22/20
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he could meet Kim Jong Un if the North Korean leader made moves to reduce his nuclear arsenal.

Trump, Biden trade barbs over North Korea’s nukes
Defense News10/23/20
In the final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle, former Vice President Joe Biden attacked President Donald Trump over his chummy relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who recently unveiled a new, larger intercontinental ballistic missile.

Middle East

Trump Administration hopes to make Iran pressure campaign harder to reverse
Wall Street Journal10/23/20
Officials plan counterterrorism sanctions, seen as politically more difficult to ease.

Russia and Europe

Russians who pose election threat have hacked nuclear plants and power grid
New York Times10/23/20
Cybersecurity officials watched with growing alarm in September as Russian state hackers started prowling around dozens of American state and local government computer systems just two months before the election.

Trump’s hopes of nuclear deal with Putin come down to the wire
Axios10/23/20
A surprise offer from Vladimir Putin has the U.S. and Russia once again circling a potential pre-election nuclear deal.

South Asia

Is India overturning decades of nuclear doctrine?
Foreign Policy10/23/20
The country has good reason to want first-strike capabilities. But the actual state of its arsenal suggests that it won’t get them.

Multilateral Arms Control

UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reaches 50 ratifications needed for entry into force
ICAN10/24/20
This is a historic milestone for this landmark treaty. Prior to the TPNW’s adoption, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not banned under international law, despite their catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

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