Talks to Resume with Accelerated Sanctions Relief on the Table

On the radar: Enrichment concerns remain; Bibi and Obama meeting today; Stockpile protection key to ISIS WMD; $500 million needed for WIPP; Optimism on North Korea; and the nuclear asteroid shield.

October 1, 2014 | Edited by Jacob Marx and Will Saetren

Talks scheduled - “Negotiations on Iran's nuclear program will continue within the next two weeks,” writes Laurence Norman for the The Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed Western diplomats close to the negotiations. "In return for the implementation by Iran of verifiable nuclear-related actions which address our key concerns... we are ready to offer a substantial relief of economic and financial sanctions at an early stage," said the diplomat. Read the full story here. http://on.wsj.com/1xzsZwY

Bibi in the oval - “President Barack Obama and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu meet for a new round in their often-tense relationship on Wednesday, facing differences over Iran diplomacy and Middle East peace efforts as well as complications from the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State militants,” reports Reuters. “Netanyahu has set Iran as his top priority in the White House talks.” Read the full story here. http://reut.rs/1BzmojL

ISIS and the WMD threat - ISIS’ “seizure of banks and oil fields gave it more than $2 billion in assets. If ISIS could make the right connection to corrupt officials in Russia or Pakistan, the group might be able to buy enough highly enriched uranium (about 50 pounds) and the technical help to build a crude nuclear device. Militants recruited from Europe or America could help smuggle it into their home nation,” writes Ploughshares Fund’s Joe Cirincione for The New York Daily News.

--”There are two good answers to these threats. First, drain the swamp: Secure or eliminate the materials ISIS would need to build terror bombs. Second, deter any attack by making sure ISIS knows our retribution would be swift, certain and devastating.” Read the full column here. http://nydn.us/ZruaR2

WIPP closed until 2016 - “The Energy Department said a major underground nuclear-waste repository in New Mexico, which has been closed since two accidents in February, is expected to remain closed until the first quarter of 2016, as cleanup and recovery efforts continue. Bringing the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, known as WIPP, back into full operation could cost more than $500 million, according to a report the department released on Tuesday.” According to a recent Congressional Research Service Report, WIPP is a critical to the slated nuclear arsenal expansion. John R. Emshwiller has the full story for The Wall Street Journal. http://on.wsj.com/1CG9wus

Lavrov on North Korea - “Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with North Korea's foreign minister on Wednesday that he saw a possibility of six-party talks resuming on Pyongyang's nuclear programme but that it would take time,” reports Reuters. “The talks today confirmed that resuming the six-party talks is possible. Not immediately, it will take a certain time...The situation is difficult but not hopeless.” said Lavrov. Read the full story here. http://reut.rs/1qV7Apo

Iran deal: the movie - “Six prominent Iranian movie directors have launched a campaign calling for a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers,” reports the Associated Press. “The filmmakers include Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, who won the award for best screenplay at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and Asghar Farhadi, who won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.” Read the full story here. http://wapo.st/1rFI8YO

Peace without nukes - The current climate of accelerating nuclear weapons development threatens global security, said Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov who called on nuclear powers to take further steps toward disarmament. Idrissov’s comments were made during a ministerial meeting marking the first International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in New York on September 26.

--“This meeting takes place at a time when nuclear weapon development and modernisation are accelerating at an unprecedented pace and threaten to erode global security.” Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal upon gaining independence in 1991. “Over the last 23 years, we have shown that it is possible to live in peace and friendship without possessing a single nuclear warhead,” Idrissov said. “Our weapon has been mutual trust and respect, transparency and confidence building.” Read the full story from Michelle Witte for The Astana Times. http://bit.ly/1vum3gy

Quick Hit:

--“Rouhani on Congress and the nuclear negotiations,” President Hassan Rouhani interview with Fareed Zakaria. http://cnn.it/1xxlzKv

Events:

--"Nuclear Stability in South Asia," Oct. 1, Noon - 2:00pm, at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Suite 1225, 1400 K St. NW, Washington. Featuring Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University; Gaurav Kampani, University of Tulsa; David Karl, Asia Strategy Initiative; Col. David Smith, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Stephen Schwartz, Monterey Institute of International Studies. Sponsored by the Center on American and Global Security at Indiana University Bloomington. RSVP Here. http://bit.ly/1odeg2m

--“The UK Strategic Nuclear Deterrent and the Chevaline Program: An Overview,” featuring Matthew Jones, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. Oct. 3, 12:00pm - 2:00pm, hosted by the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1qyEuvE

--Public meeting for the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories. Oct. 6, 10:00am - 3:30pm in Alexandria, VA. Details here. http://1.usa.gov/1udhOIV

--“Unmaking the Bomb: A Fissile Material Approach to Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation,” featuring Zia Mian, Alexander Glaser and George Perkovich. October 7, 3:30 - 5:00pm at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Details here. http://ceip.org/1vpfWMd

--“Preventing Proliferation and Advancing Nuclear Disarmament.” Annual Meeting of the Arms Control Association. Oct. 20, 9:30am - 2:30pm at the Carnegie Endowment. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1uGHZnS

Dessert:

”Don’t want to miss a thing” - Why isn’t the US, keeping up with its nuclear stockpile reduction goals? Partly because some in government are concerned “we might need them to destroy an asteroid hurtling toward earth,” writes Tim Fernholz at Quartz. “In the event that a nuclear weapon is needed for planetary defense, it remains unclear whether a rag-tag band of oilmen will be needed to deploy it.” Read the full story here. http://bit.ly/1ruyydM

Greatest atomic agency logo ever - “The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has, without much competition, the coolest logo of any part of the UN...It’s not only an atom, it’s an atom with style. It’s got a classic late-1950s/early-1960s asymmetrical, jaunty swagger. Those electrons are swinging, baby!” Some of the other original concepts for the logo, not so much. Alex Wellerstein has the full history of the emblem at the Restricted Data blog. http://bit.ly/1udxaMd