US Nuclear Policy

According to a US-based research institute, China currently has 27 under-construction nuclear reactors, with an average completion time of approximately seven years - much faster than other nations

China has 27 nuclear reactors under construction with average construction timelines of about seven years, far faster than other countries

The largest uranium producer in the United States is ramping up work just south of Grand Canyon National Park on a long-contested project that largely has sat dormant since the 1980s. The work is unfolding as global instability and growing demand drive uranium prices higher. The Biden administration and dozens of other countries have pledged to triple the capacity of nuclear power worldwide in their battle against climate change, ensuring uranium will remain a key commodity for decades as the government offers incentives for developing the next generation of nuclear reactors and new policies take aim at Russia's influence over the supply chain. But as the U.S. pursues its nuclear power potential, environmentalists and Native American leaders remain fearful of the consequences for communities near mining and milling sites in the West and are demanding better regulatory oversight. Producers say uranium production today is different than decades ago when the country was racing to buil

Australia is set to provide 4.6 billion Australian dollars (USD 3 billion) to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time, the two countries said Friday. The announcement came a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet challenges such as China's increased activity in the South China Sea and South Pacific. UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said the submarine program was expensive but necessary. Nuclear-powered submarines are not cheap, but we live in a much more dangerous world where we are seeing a much more assertive region with China, a much more dangerous world all around with what's happening in the Middle East and Europe, Shapps told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Countries need to invest in making sure that adversaries see we are serious about our security, defending freedom of navigation, for example. The 10-year deal announced at an annual ministers' gather

Russia developing anti-satellite nuke capability is troubling, but not a threat to anyone's safety as it has not been deployed yet, the White House said. This is not an active capability that's been deployed. And though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House told reporters at a news conference here. We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth. That said, we've been closely monitoring this Russian activity and we will continue to take it very seriously, he said. Kirby said US President Joe Biden has been kept fully informed and regularly informed by his national security team. He has directed a series of initial actions, including additional briefings to Congressional leaders, direct diplomatic engagement with Russia, with our allies and

The United States has placed six Pakistani companies on its entity list for missile proliferation and unsafe-guarded nuclear activity

The US government is planning to review the environmental effects of operations at one of the nation's prominent nuclear weapons laboratories, but its notice issued Friday leaves out federal goals to ramp up production of plutonium cores used in the nation's nuclear arsenal. The National Nuclear Security Administration said the review being done to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act will look at the potential environmental effects of alternatives for operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next 15 years. That work includes preventing the spread and use of nuclear weapons worldwide and other projects related to national security and global stability, the notice said. Watchdog groups contend that regardless of the review, the NNSA will march ahead with its production plans for plutonium cores at Los Alamos. The northern New Mexico lab part of the top secret Manhattan Project during World War II and the birthplace of the atomic bomb is one of two sites

The bloc's foreign ministers "expressed clear solidarity with France," Borrell said

Trump did, however, add two weapon types and beef up the budget for a years-long overhaul of the nuclear arsenal - an overhaul that Biden sees as excessive

Zarif said the same impulse was driving the United States to undermine the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which President Donald Trump has demanded be renegotiated