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Ben Loehrke's Blog Posts

Ben serves as Ploughshares Fund's Senior Policy Analyst. With a background in nuclear and international security policy, his areas of expertise include U.S.-Russia relations, nonstrategic nuclear weapons and U.S. policy towards Iran.
Plutonium Waste Begets Budget Waste
Many in Congress fumed last year when a green energy company – Solyndra – defaulted on a $535 million government loan, resulting from some bad management decisions and the market falling out from under the company. What happens when the government spends $5 billion on a poorly managed plutonium program that has no market? Read more »
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Posted by Ben Loehrke on January 23, 2013
MOX, Nuclear Budget, Nuclear Materials, United States
The Pentagon’s New Precision-Guided, Nuclear Budget Buster
  On the radar: High accuracy, low yield, huge budget; Shoddy science; Decisions for the 2nd term; “Armageddon on a Budget”; Nukes and the NDAA; Japan’s plutonium buildup; Israeli BMD; and Mousavian on a grand bargain.   Read more »
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Posted on November 29, 2012
The $640 Billion Question
Whether or not the nation zooms over the fiscal cliff, the Pentagon’s budget is going to get tighter. This may be a challenge for some. But it’s also an opportunity for the Pentagon to shift away from Cold War weapons and reshape the U.S. military to deal with 21st century realities. It comes down to a simple question: Should the U.S. put its money toward a Cold War nuclear strategy? Or should those funds be spent to equip the military to address 21st century realities? Read more »
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Posted by Ben Loehrke on November 14, 2012
$640 Billion, Cold War, Fiscal Cliff, Gen. James Cartwright, Global Zero, Military, Nuclear Budget, Pentagon Budget, Politico, Sec. Colin Powell, Walter Pincus
EU Tightens Sanctions on Iran
  On the radar: Banking and trade targeted; Positioning on enrichment; After Nunn-Lugar; U Thant, unsung hero of the crisis; U.S.-Israel security cooperation; MOX transparency needed; Missileer during the crisis; and Christoph Waltz as Mikhail Gorbachev.   Read more »
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Posted on October 15, 2012
$640 Billion for Nuclear Weapons and Related Programs
  On the radar: Assessing the nuclear budget; Updated Iran timeline; Replacing the Ohio; Degraded confidence for UPF; Big trouble for big laser; Lingering myth from the Cuban Missile Crisis; BMD cooperation with Russia; and South, that’s right, South Korea increasing missile ranges.   Read more »
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Posted on October 9, 2012
Delays and Cost Hikes Plague Nuclear Programs
  On the radar: NNSA’s string of bad news; Street view of the Rial crisis; Iran’s proposal; MEADS continues; Nuking Detroit; Nuking the moon; and the Last of the Manhattan Project scientists.   Read more »
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Posted on October 5, 2012
New START: Significant Reductions, Modest Pace
  On the radar: Charting START data; Gates says Iran strike would “prove catastrophic”; Iran’s currency crisis; Sanctions and the role of flexibility; South Korean missiles; and Catch 22 for UK atomic veterans.   Read more »
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Posted on October 4, 2012
Fallon, Hagel, Hamilton, Pickering and Zinni on the Implications of Striking Iran
On the radar: Seeking a reasoned debate; Making an Iranian bomb more likely; W76 LEP slipping, costs hiking; Security firm fired; Doomsday Clock; Arihant spotted; and Penciling in the details on a Soviet nuclear test.   Read more »
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Posted on October 1, 2012
How the U.S. Military Views an Israeli Strike
  On the radar: They don’t want war and especially don’t want Israel to start it; Expert views on bibi’s red line; the Human costs of strikes on Iran; Laser enrichment license; a Legal perspective; and the Missile Next Door.   Read more »
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Posted on September 28, 2012
Obama at UN: Room for Diplomacy with Iran, but Patience Limited
On the radar: Nuclear portions of the speech; Taking stock of Iran policy; Carroll on DPRK; Ahmadinejad in NY; Blimp nets an intercept; CMRR update; New START BCC; and Nuking your cocktails.   Read more »
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Posted on September 25, 2012