Nuclear Policy News – October 8, 2019

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TOP NEWS

Missile Defense Agency shaping strategy to meet evolving challenges
USNI News

Iran uses advanced centrifuges, threatens higher enrichment
Associated Press

North Korea criticizes upcoming U.N. Security Council meeting on SLBM, claiming U.S. behind move
Associated Press

United States

Missile Defense Agency shaping strategy to meet evolving challenges
USNI News10/7/19
The Missile Defense Agency is working to up its game to meet new challenges posed by the next generation of precision-guided weapons the agency’s director said on Monday.

Pentagon’s new space agency seeks $10.6 billion over five years
Bloomberg10/4/19
A new space agency created by the Pentagon to expedite deployment of as many as 1,200 satellites plans to request almost $11 billion over five years despite skepticism in Congress toward the nascent effort.

Middle East

Iran uses advanced centrifuges, threatens higher enrichment
Associated Press10/7/19
Iran on Saturday said it now uses arrays of advanced centrifuges prohibited by its 2015 nuclear deal and can enrich uranium “much more beyond” current levels to weapons-grade material, taking a third step away from the accord while warning Europe has little time to offer it new terms.

East Asia

North Korea criticizes upcoming U.N. Security Council meeting on SLBM, claiming U.S. behind move
Associated Press10/7/19
North Korea on Monday denounced a scheduled U.N. Security Council discussion of its latest test of an underwater-launched ballistic missile, calling it “dangerous” and saying it will increase “our desire to defend our sovereignty.”

N. Korea able to use Punggye-ri nuke testing site after restoration work: JCS
Yonhap News Agency10/8/19
North Korea is believed to be able to reuse its now-defunct Punggye-ri nuclear test site after weeks or months of restoration work, though no such moves have been detected, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday.

Analysis/Commentary

Maximum pressure against North Korea, RIP
38 NorthStephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt
10/7/19
Inadequate sanctions and effective North Korean efforts at circumvention are compounded by a widening gulf at the UN on everything from the content and strategic direction of sanctions to the mechanics of implementation.

What a series of small nuclear deals with North Korea could work
National InterestRobert E. Kelly
10/8/19
Trump appears to want to offer a big, somewhat generous, Nobel Prize-earning offer to Kim, but he cannot.

No, it is not time to ditch the NPT
Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsAdam M. Scheinman
10/7/19
As a practical matter, mass withdrawals from the NPT would ransack the legal and policy framework for nuclear nonproliferation enacted and strengthened over the course of 50 years.

Have Iran, US slammed door on nuclear negotiations?
Al-MonitorSaeid Jafari
10/7/19
Despite efforts by several world leaders to get the presidents of Iran and the United States together on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly session in New York, no such meeting took place and no improvements were made in the tense situation between Tehran and Washington.

Iran’s missiles would be a real problem during a war
National InterestDavid Axe
10/7/19
Tehran’s missiles just keep getting better and they could be used to great devastation if Iran felt it had to use them.

What role does AI have in the American nuclear arsenal? (VIDEO)
Military TimesJeff Martin
10/7/19
The NNSA’s deputy for defense programs discusses the topic with Aaron Mehta.

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