A Comprehensive, Bipartisan Approach to Nuclear Waste

On the radar: New agency, interim options and permanent solutions; Reductions as leverage; Security Summit progress; the Independent deterrent, 1952-present; engaging Iran’s new president; and Good housekeeping as civil defense.

July 1, 2013 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Alyssa Demus

Nuclear waste bill - Last week, Sens. Feinstein (D-CA), Alexander (R-TN), Wyden (D-OR) and Murkowski (R-AK) introduced “The Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2013.” The bill is a “comprehensive plan for safeguarding and permanently disposing of tens of thousands of tons of dangerous radioactive nuclear waste currently accumulating at sites dispersed across the country.”

--“In addition to creating an independent Nuclear Waste Administration to manage nuclear waste, the bill authorizes the construction of interim storage facilities and permanent waste repositories, sited through a consent-based process and funded by fees currently collected from nuclear power ratepayers,” said Sen. Feinstein. Press release here. http://1.usa.gov/11YwyJt

--Summary: “The Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2013,” S. 1240. (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/12BFrHD
--Bill text. (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/13lrvb3

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Reductions and leverage - Russia hasn’t shown serious interest in negotiating a new treaty on nuclear reductions, but remains interested in staying in the arms control process - using it as an international status symbol and a platform to gripe about U.S. weapons systems.

--Pavel Podvig argues that the Obama administration would gain leverage in negotiations if it first made independent reductions to the U.S. arsenal. “Russia would then face a choice between joining the nuclear cuts and keeping the leverage that comes with being an active participant in the process, or risking a US decision to embrace unilateralism and steer nuclear policy in a discomforting direction, whether this means expanding missile defense or strengthening precision strike capabilities. This is a risk that Russia would not be willing to take.” Full article in the newly redesigned Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. http://bit.ly/1b27RCF

Nuclear insecurity - Protected by two security guards that accept “expired frequent-flier cards” as valid forms of IDs, the Congo’s CREN-K is the world’s least secure nuclear reactor. With this level of security “what it would take to steal a [reactor fuel] rod or two? Clearly, a CREN-K heist would be like watching Mission: Possible.”

--”The IAEA and Interpol have been desperately worried about security lapses and the deteriorating scene” at CREN-K, and yet “the IAEA only sends inspectors here once a year due to its own budget limitations. In a world still awash with decaying post-Soviet nuclear facilities, little reactors like this can easily fall through the cracks,” writes Jason Miklian in Foreign Policy. Full story here. http://ow.ly/my6dv

Report - “The Nuclear Security Summit: Progress Report” by Michelle Cann, Kelsey Davenport and Sarah Williams for the Arms Control Association and Partnership for Global Security.

--Abstract: “This report seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the progress states have made to improve nuclear security over the course of the NSS process, drawing specific attention to actions taken since the Seoul summit.” (pdf) http://bit.ly/18qMD1Y

Report - “The British Nuclear Stockpile, 1953-2013” by Robert Norris and Hans Kristensen for The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. (pdf) http://bit.ly/11YC0fz

Rouhani - “Iran’s president-elect, Hassan Rouhani, said Saturday that he would engage with the West and fulfill his electoral promises to allow more freedom for the Iranian people,” reports Thomas Erdbrink for The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/19Ous4c

Tweet - @AlMonitor: #Rouhani's victory chance for world, regional powers to take a conciliatory approach. http://almon.co/alt

Speed reads -

-- “Pentagon Reverts to Nuclear Stockpile Secrecy” by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. http://bit.ly/14IxrIe

--”North Korea to discuss nuclear talks in Moscow - report” from Reuters. http://reut.rs/13lnxiP

--”U.N. nuclear chief warns of 'dirty bomb' threat” by Fredrik Dahl of Reuters. http://reut.rs/1auY9tT

Events:

--Secretary Kerry meets with the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum July 1-2. North Korea's nuclear program is on the agenda.

--U.S.-Russia Plutonium Disposition: Adventures with MOX." Jeffrey Smith, Douglas Birch, Frank von Hippel. July 9 2:00-3:30 AM. Carnegie Endowment. Details here. http://ow.ly/my1RY

--"10th Anniversary of the Proliferation Security Initiative." Ryszard Schnepf, Rebecca Hersman, Vann Van Diepen, and Susan Koch. July 9, 3:30-5:00 PM @ CSIS B1C Conference Room. Details here. http://ow.ly/my35J

--"Institutional Roadblocks to Deterrence Stability in South Asia." Polly Nayak, Independent Consultant, and Lt. Gen. Vinay Shankar ret. July 11 12:30-2:00 PM @ Stimson Center. Details here. http://ow.ly/my3BW

Dessert:

Cleaning day keeps armageddon away - The winning formula for civil defense...a tidy house and shiny paint job according to a 1954 film sponsored by the National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau and Federal Civil Defense Administration. Hoarders, packrats, and slobs beware. Video evidence from the Nevada Proving Grounds shows messy houses filled with combustible trash engulfed in flames while neat neighbors’ spic and span abodes remain standing, even while its inhabitants are likely being incinerated. Lauren Davis at io9 reports on the film. http://ow.ly/mxVmd