Encouraging sign on Iran - experts should play a key role in implementing any deal to remove the enriched uranium from Iran!
Not a surprise that they went to @ORNL, where they have the best expertise on packaging and removing highly enriched uranium from other countries.
DPRK's nuclear expansion continues unabated. According to @AP North Korea announced a 3rd enrichment facility and its "nuclear materials production capacity has more than doubled compared with five years ago, a claim that cannot be verified independently."
Very little attention has been paid to DPRK recently. At the same time, it would appear that DRPK is learning the value of having multiple facilities for producing weapons usable nuclear materials...
I have been uncomfortable with the loose talk about possible conspiracies around the tragic deaths and missing scientists over the last couple of years. There are families grieving.
Kudos to @alexnazaryan at @nytimes for a compassionate and accurate overview of the situation.
Check out this incredibly well-researched article from @bradplumer at @nytimes on the use of plutonium as fuel for nuclear energy. We have limited resources to put towards nuclear energy, so let's not waste them chasing an unproven path fraught with pitfalls.
This is the right priority - we need to get Iran’s highly enriched uranium into a form that cannot be used in a nuclear weapon. Any option that achieves that goal would be an important step forward!
Iran now views its highly enriched uranium as a way to prevent future attacks, despite it being a primary reason for getting attacked in the first place.
Ultimately, there needs to be agreement on how to remove or down blend this material to low enriched uranium, as a start.
There is not much discussion on the other stockpiles of enriched uranium in Iran, which would also need to be addressed in a new deal. Uranium enriched to 20% can quickly be further enriched to weapons grade.
Very concerning news from @politico and UAE, which points to a non-state actor group as the origin of the drone attack on Barakah NPP.
However, we have to be careful not to draw the wrong conclusions from the recent attacks on nuclear facilities, including ZNPP and in Iran.
There is a lot to unpack in each scenario, but in the case of attacks on or around a nuclear power plant, military activities could lead to a catastrophic release of radiation.