Prevent a "Cold Pause," Continue Security Cooperation with Russia

Today's top nuclear policy stories, events, and analysis with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today - Thursday, May 5, 2011:

Five Next Steps To Increase American Security - Joe Cirincione and Haleh Hatami for The Huffington Post [link]

• This week, a unique group of U.S. and Russian experts has hammered out a series of next steps to keep up the momentum created by the [New START] treaty's passage.
• The experts, including Amb. Anatoly Antonov, retired Gen. Evgeny Buzhinsky, Amb. Steven Pifer and Dr. David Holloway, are part of a new Sustainable Partnership with Russia Group (or SuPR Group).
• Together, the experts say, these and other recommendations lay a path for reducing the role of outmoded, dangerous and costly nuclear arsenals.
• For more information about the SuPR Group's report click here.

Barak to Haaretz: Iran won't drop nuclear bomb on Israel - Gidi Weitz for Haaretz [link]

• If Iran succeeds in developing nuclear weapons, it is unlikely to bomb Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Haaretz in an Independence Day interview.
• When asked whether he thinks Iran would drop a nuclear bomb on Israel, Barak said: “Not on us and not on any other neighbor.”
• Though the Iranian government seems to have largely eluded the wave of revolutions in the Arab world, Barak said it too could collapse.

Bill Would Authorize Full Funding of NNSA Nuke Budget - Global Security Newswire[link]

• The draft fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill would allow lawmakers to grant the Obama administration's full funding request for National Nuclear Security Administration activities to maintain and update the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, along with an extra $109 million for U.S. missile defense operations, the House Armed Services Committee announced on Tuesday.
• The bill would increase the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system's funding authorization by $100 million from $1.2 billion.
• The bill calls on the president to issue a yearly statement on plans for updating the nation's nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons complex and delivery vehicles, as well as spending projections covering one decade.

Bin Laden Hideout Raises Pakistan Atomic Alarm, Examiner Says - Jonathan Tirone for Bloomberg [link]

• Osama Bin Laden’s hideout inside a fortified house a mile from an elite Pakistani military academy should raise the alarm over the South Asian country’s nuclear weapons program, atomic investigator Olli Heinonen said.
• Rather than opening up civilian reactors to full inspection in exchange for increased technology assistance, Pakistan is increasing output of nuclear-weapons material and will have the fourth-biggest atomic weapons stockpile by 2020, Heinonen said.
• In return for technology and security assurances, “Pakistan would stop production of fissile material for military purposes, commit to a moratorium on nuclear testing and provide full disclosure of nuclear proliferation activities involving Iran, Libya, North Korea and Syria,” Heinonen said.

EVENT: The Trilateral Process: Washington, Kiev, Moscow and the Fate of Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine [link]

• Monday, May 9, 2011, 10:00 — 11:30 am
• The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
• On May 9, the Arms Control Initiative at Brookings will host a panel discussion on the trilateral process, specifically the challenges and key factors that produced a successful outcome. Panelists include Pavel Baev, research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo; Borys Tarasyuk, Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) deputy and former foreign minister; and Steven Pifer, senior fellow and director of the Arms Control Initiative.