I wrote an op-ed for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on March 18th on the implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. It can be found here.

There are two op-eds worth reading written by the Center's Board members:

Frank von Hippel at Princeton University wrote in the New York Times on March 23rd on the need to learn from the Fukushima disaster and reduce dangers around the world. He writes, "We therefore must make existing reactors safer, develop a new generation of safer designs and prevent nuclear power from facilitating nuclear proliferation. As tragic as the Fukushima disaster has been, it has provided a rare opportunity to advance those goals."

Matthew Bunn at Harvard University wrote in the Washington Post on March 23rd on ways to reduce a Fukushima-like disaster elsewhere. He writes, "Ultimately, regular independent, international reviews should be the norm in nuclear operations worldwide. All countries must demonstrate that they are doing everything practicable to prevent the next Fukushima — or something far worse."

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Japan, Fukushima, Daiichi, nuclear safety, radioactive materials (all tags)

(full texts)

2010.12.6 TRILATERAL STATEMENT ROK, U.S., JAPAN: WASHINGTON, DC

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Seiji Maehara, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea Kim Sung-hwan, and the Secretary of State of the United States of America Hillary Rodham Clinton, met in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2010 for a ministerial trilateral. This meeting builds on longstanding efforts to intensify policy coordination and strategic dialogue among the three countries and reflects the need for greater trilateral cooperation in addressing enduring and emerging challenges. The Ministers noted that as three of the world’s major economies with shared values, the three nations have a common cause and responsibilities to maintain stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region and globally. (Click "read more")

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South Korea, U.S., Japan, Joint Statement, Yeonpyeong, North Korea, Six-Party Talks (all tags)

Chalk up another Republican endorsement for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.  Last Friday former Utah Republican Senator Jake Garn called on the U.S. Senate to ratify the Treaty.  Said Garn:

Today, one of our greatest security interests is to discourage nuclear weapons testing by others. A global verifiable ban on testing would help block the ability of nuclear-armed countries, such as China, to develop more advanced nuclear weapons. Without nuclear weapon test explosions, could-be nuclear-armed nations — like Iran — would not be able to proof test the smaller, more sophisticated nuclear warhead designs that could be used to arm ballistic missiles.

Evidence that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has some pretty sensible views on nuclear weapons continues to pour in.  Last week Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reaffirmed the DPJ's commitment to Japan's three nonnuclear principles.  Meanwhile, in an end of the year letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Japanese Foreign Minister Okada stated that the Japanese diplomats who told the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States that the TLAM-N is a key piece of the U.S. extended deterrent to Japan might have gone a little overboard.  According to Okada:

Hence, although the discussions were held under the previous Cabinet, it is my understanding that, in the course of exchanges between our countries, including the deliberations of the above mentioned Commission, it was never the case that views were expressed as being those of our government concerning whether or not your government should possess particular [weapons] systems such as TLAM/N and RNEP. If, in some tentative way such a view was expressed, it would clearly be at variance with my views, which are in favor of nuclear disarmament.

In a speech on European Security at L’Ecole Militaire in Paris Secretary of State Clinton reiterated the Obama administration's commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons.  She also commented on the ongoing Nuclear Posture Review.  On the Review Clinton noted: we are conducting a comprehensive Nuclear Posture Review to chart a new course that strengthens deterrence and reassurance for the United States and our allies while reducing the role and number of the nuclear weapons we have.  How exactly this tightrope will be walked will be revealed (as of now) on March 1.

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Nukes on a Blog, Table Scraps, tactical nuclear weapons, Japan, Extended Deterrence, Nuclear Posture Review (all tags)

The Arms Control Association has released the nominees for its third annual Arms Controller of the Year contest. Previous winners include Norway's foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Reps. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and David Hobson (R-Ohio).

President Obama is the obvious frontrunner, but he’s already been on an award tour or two this year, hasn’t he?

German foreign ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Guido Westerwelle and Japanese foreign minister Katsuya Okada might be good choices because of their willingness to remind everyone that the “beneficiaries” of U.S. extended nuclear deterrence not only have a say in the policy, but also possess serious doubts about whether Cold War-style nuclear deployments are still the best way to deal with 21st century security challenges.

Looking ahead, NOH hopes that the 2010 award goes to Vice President Biden after he helps find a non-retrograde solution for modernization, shepherds a treaty or two through the Senate, and begins operationalizing –through both the budget and the global nuclear security summit – the administration’s plan to secure all vulnerable fissile material within four years.

12 months and counting, Veep. Do it to it.

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Nukes of a Blog, New START, START, Russia, CTBT, Obama Administration, Japan (all tags)

More data points calling into question the assertion that Japan might seek nuclear weapons if the United States tweaks its force posture…

On November 13, the United States and Japan released a joint statement on the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. According to the statement:  

The Government of the United States continues to seek early conclusion of a START follow-on treaty through negotiations with the Russian Federation. The Government of Japan welcomes the progress made in the negotiations and expresses its expectation for early agreement. The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan call upon states that hold nuclear weapons to respect the principles of transparency, verifiability and irreversibility in the process of nuclear disarmament. The Government of the United States is committed to reducing the role of nuclear weapons in its national security strategy, and the Government of the United States and the Government of Japan urge other states that hold nuclear weapons to do the same.

On November 23, Masakatsu Ota of Kyodo News revealed that before the Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide election victory in August 2009, the Liberal Democratic Party-led Japanese government lobbied the Strategic Posture Commission to maintain the capability to deploy the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile/Nuclear (TLAM/N). It’s unlikely that the new government will be so gung-ho about the TLAM/N, especially since, as Jeffrey notes, it could accidentally crash into Japan or South Korea if it were ever fired at North Korea. And don’t forget that, much to former Secretary Schlesinger’s chagrin, the U.S. Navy appears to care less about the TLAM-N.

A Kyodo News survey of the Democratic Party of Japan’s Lower House members conducted in October found that 87.2 percent of the respondents would support a U.S. “no first use” declaratory policy. Only 4.7 percent of the respondents thought that the Japanese constitution’s three nonnuclear principles should be reviewed. The survey drew responses from 211 of the Democratic Party of Japan’s 308 Lower House Members.

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Nukes on a Blog, Posture Review, North Korea, Table Scraps, New START, Japan (all tags)

As the Obama administration closes in on an agenda for bilateral talks with Pyongyang, it looks as though the United States and South Korea are back on the same page after a protracted spell of miscommunication...

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Nukes on a Blog, North Korea, Japan (all tags)

Secretary Clinton will give a big nonproliferation speech on Wednesday at 11am, Laura Rozen reports. Clinton plans to outline “a diplomatic blueprint for implementing the vision the President set forth in Prague.” New START and CTBT are on the itinerary, too.

Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Sunday called on the United States to make a pledge not to use nuclear weapons first. Okada is not from Hiroshima or Nagasaki, so is it okay to listen to what he says, PONI?

Kudos to Walter Pincus for writing about the B61 refurbishment study in the WaPo, although NOH readers had a head start on that one.

Apparently the Center “occupies the currently fairly influential, soggy-left end of the spectrum of Washington's power-connected think-tanks.” Sign #347 that our drinking is becoming a problem.

No, Peter Galbraith doesn’t serve on our Board anymore. No, I don’t know where he is. No, I’m not his scheduler. Yes, I would be happy to give you his number so you can call him directly.

UPDATE (4:30PM): ACW compresses the digital bellows.

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Nukes on a Blog, CTBT, START, Japan, Obama Administration, Table Scraps (all tags)