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August 25,  2015
IRAN AND THE JCPOA
Constitution Check: Will the Courts Block the Iran Nuclear Deal?
Lyle Denniston, Constitution Daily
August 27, 2015
 
Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center's constitutional literacy adviser, looks at an attempt in a federal district court to allow the Senate to approve the Iran nuclear deal as a treaty, and not an executive agreement.
 
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Explains the Science of the Iran Deal
Katie Peek, Popular Science
August 26, 2015

As a Congressional vote on the Iran deal draws near, the White House is using science to sell the accord.
The Iran Deal: A Epochal Moment that Congress Shouldn't Squander
Brent Scowcroft, Washington Post
August 21, 2015

Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft weighs in on the Iran deal.

How to Put Some Teeth into the Nuclear Deal with Iran
Dennis Ross and David Petraeus, Washington Post
August 25, 2015

Ross and Petraeus express their concerns about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

No, Iran is Not Allowed to Inspect Itself
Mark Hibbs and Thomas Shea, thehill.com
August 21, 2015

"As any landmark vote by a deeply divided United States Congress nears, stretching the truth to win hearts and minds is politics as usual. But what's being said and published in some quarters about how the Iran nuclear deal would be implemented has now spun out of control."

KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan to Host IAEA Nuclear Fuel Bank to Assist Non-Proliferation
Raushan Nurshayeva, Reuters
August 27, 2015
 
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on Thursday to locate the first internationally-controlled bank of low-enriched uranium in the ex-Soviet nation to ensure fuel supplies for power stations and prevent nuclear proliferation.
 
 
Related

Letter from Kazakhstan: Why We Believe in the Nuclear Fuel Bank
Kairat Umarov, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
August 27, 2015
 
A letter from Kairat Umarov, Kazakhstan's ambassador to the United States, regarding the agreement signed between the IAEA and his country on a nuclear fuel bank.
 

U.S. NATIONAL LABORATORIES
Feds Fine Sandia for Improper Lobbying
Michael Coleman, Albuquerque Journal
August 24, 2015
 
A report by the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General in 2014 concluded that Lockheed Martin, the parent company of Sandia Corporation, wrongfully used federal funds provided to Sandia National Laboratories for lab operations to lobby for the no-bid contract extension it ultimately received.
 
 
Related

Sandia Corporation Agrees to Pay $4.7 Million to Resolve Allegations Related to Lobbying Activities
U.S. Department of Justice press release
August 21, 2015
 
PAKISTAN
New Report: A Normal Nuclear Pakistan
Toby Dalton and Michael Krepon
August 27, 2015

Jointly issued by the Stimson Center and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, this report offers a strategy for Pakistan "to be mainstreamed into the global nuclear order."

DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
New Report: North Korea's Evolving Nuclear Strategy
38 North
August 24, 2015

This new paper by Shane Smith offers an analytical framework for four NK nuclear strategies and assesses the limited information about the past and future of North Korea's nuclear strategy.

Recent Imagery Suggests Increased Uranium Production in North Korea
Jeffrey Lewis, 38 North
August 12, 2015

Recent commercial satellite imagery shows that the DPRK has begun refurbishing a mill that turns uranium ore in yellowcake, the first step toward enriched uranium. Can North Korea's intentions be divined?

OTHER WMD
CNS Short Course on Chemical and Biological Weapons
September 10-11 and 15-17, 2015
Washington, D.C.

Application Deadline September 4

The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) announces the next course in its 2015 series designed for practitioners in the field of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The series is being offered to U.S. Government personnel, including fellows working at U.S. Government agencies. Free to accepted applicants, this course is intended for professionals with some previous experience in the field of chemical and biological weapons issues and is also open for applicants who have completed the introductory course in the 2015 series.
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