Kerry and Lugar: Pakistan Nuclear Deal Not Likely

We are happy to serve you a daily summary of the day's top nuclear policy stories each morning, with excerpts from the stories in bullet form.

Stories we're following today: 

Senators Pour Cold War on Pakistani Nuclear Hopes - Josh Rogin in The Cable [link]

• The State Department is being extremely cagey about how it views the prospect of a civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan, which multiple reports say the Pakistani delegation is likely to propose this week in Washington.
• But the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee? Not so much.
• "I don't think it's on the table right now considering all over the other issues we have to confront," Senate Foreign Relations chairman John Kerry told The Cable.
• His words were echoed by his Republican counterpart Richard Lugar, D-IN, who told The Cable he believes the idea of a nuclear deal should be delinked from the strategic dialogue.

Fixing Missile Defense - The New York Times [link]

• It is always encouraging to see a commitment to getting the most out of America’s gargantuan defense budget and reining in costs on expensive, badly managed or poorly performing programs.
• Now [the Obama team] is looking at the long-troubled missile defense program.
• Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, the program’s chief, told a conference on Monday that some contractors continue to produce poor quality components for missile interceptors.
• To ensure the strongest team to address the program’s deficiencies, the Senate needs to overcome conservative opposition and confirm Philip Coyle, a leading advocate of reforming missile defense, as a White House science adviser.
  
  

US-Russian Nuclear Deal to Be Signed in Prague - The Associated Press [link]

• Prague announced Wednesday it will host the signing of a new U.S.-Russian treaty to reduce long-range nuclear weapons - the clearest sign yet that Washington and Moscow are close to completing a deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
• For President Barack Obama, a ceremony in Prague would be a symbolic return to the city where he outlined his nuclear agenda in April.
• Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Filip Kanda said negotiations on the treaty have not been completed yet but Prague agreed to host the signing by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev when a deal was reached.

U.S. Must Get Its Nuclear House in Order Before April Security Summit - The Hill [link]

• As part of President Barack Obama’s initiative to secure all vulnerable nuclear material within four years, the U.S. will host more than 40 heads of state next month for a nuclear security summit.
• The U.S., which has the world’s second-largest stock of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium, needs to unveil a much bolder strategy for securing its own bomb-grade material to inspire other nations to follow suit.
• HEU is a prime target for nuclear terrorists. With about 100 pounds of HEU it is possible to create an improvised nuclear device that could create a 10-kiloton blast.

Pakistan Wants to Question Nuclear Scientist - The Associated Press [link]

• The Pakistani government has requested permission to question disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan over recent media reports that Pakistan arranged the transfer of nuclear technology to Iran.
• It also comes as top Pakistani officials are in Washington for bilateral talks this week, with Islamabad demanding that Washington acknowledge its progress in the fight against terrorism.
• Khan admitted on television in early 2004 to sole responsibility for operating a network that spread nuclear weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. He has since retracted that statement but his case remains extremely politically sensitive in Pakistan.
• Government officials say he is kept under close watch for his own safety, but many analysts say the powerful military and intelligence agencies restrict his movement because they fear he may implicate them in past nuclear proliferation.