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October 26,  2015
OPPORTUNITIES
Assistant/Associate Professor, Nuclear Chemistry/Radiochemistry 
Washington State University has a tenure-track position open in its Chemistry Department. PhD or equivalent degree in chemistry or a closely related field is required by the hire date. Expected start date is August 15, 2016.
 
Fellowships at the Center for Global Security Research, LLNL  
The Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is currently recruiting post-docs, pre-docs, masters students, and undergraduates for fellowships of periods ranging from a quarter or semester up to four years. Members of the science and technology communities as well as the community of scholars of international relations, security studies, and political science more generally are encouraged to apply. 
 
COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY
Kerry Announces New Push for Nuclear Test Ban
Aaron Mehta, DefenseNews
October 21, 2015
In a surprise move, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new push to get the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Kerry pledged to spend his last year in office making the case for why the United States should sign onto the agreement.
 
IRAN
Israel's Nuclear Advisory Panel Endorses Iran Deal
Chaim Levinson, Haaretz
October 22, 2015
Countering Netanyahu, the Israeli government, and most of the opposition, Israel's Atomic Energy Commission maintains pact will prevent Tehran from developing nuclear bomb, source says.
 
Iran Nuclear Deal Is Formally Adopted
Felicia Schwartz and Jay Solomon, The Wall Street Journal
Updated October 19, 2015
 
The Obama administration began implementing its nuclear agreement with Iran with an eye toward lifting expansive sanctions imposed on Tehran in the past decade. Concerns from opponents of the deal continued to grow, however, as senior administration officials played down the importance of a United Nations probe into whether Tehran has attempted to secretly develop the technologies needed to build atomic weapons.
 
Iran Nuclear Deal Wins Tepid Endorsement from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Thomas Erdbrink, The New York Times
October 21, 2015
 
Iran's supreme leader publicly endorsed the July nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers for the first time, state news agencies reported. But the provisional endorsement was accompanied by a warning that Tehran expected all sanctions to be lifted or it would walk away from the deal.
 
CHINA
Errors Revealed at Chinese Nuclear Firm Seeking to Invest in UK Plants
Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian
October 19, 2015
 
One of the Chinese nuclear power firms pushing for a stake in the UK's energy industry left out hundreds of critical steel rods when building its first reactor near Hong Kong in 1987 because workers misread the blueprint. 
 
PAKISTAN
Pakistan Will Be World's Fifth Largest Nuclear Power by 2025, Report Says
Rishi Iyengar, Time Magazine
October 22, 2015
 
Pakistan is on track to become the world's fifth largest nuclear power by 2025, according to a report released by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The report's estimate of 220 to 250 warheads based on "Pakistan's performance over the past 20 years and its current and anticipated weapons deployments" could potentially place it just behind the United States, Russia, and France, and nearly on par with China's current stockpile of 250.
 
Pakistani Nuclear Forces, 2015
Hans Christensen and Robert Norris
October 2015
 
The latest Nuclear Notebook on Pakistan by Christensen and Norris points to the expansion of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, predicting that it might well reach 220 to 250 warhead by 2025.
 
 
RUSSIA
Looking Beyond New START to the Future of US-Russian Arms Control Treaties
Douglas Tomlinson, Nukes of Hazard blog 
October 19, 2015
 
On October 1,  the U.S Department of State's Bureau for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance released its count of US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons covered under the New START treaty. For some, it appears problematic that Russia has been increasing its nuclear force under the treaty while the United States has been reducing its force. The reality, however, is far less alarming.

Russian Nuclear Power: Convenience at What Cost?  
Emma Lecavallier, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
 
October 16, 2015
 
In 2014, Moscow quietly became the leader of the $500 billion global nuclear energy market, building 37 percent of all new reactors in the world, eclipsing the United States'  7 percent share. What are the implications?

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