What is the relationship between the economics of nuclear power and the proliferation of nuclear weapons? When security and arms control analysts list what has helped keep nuclear weapons technologies from spreading further than they already have, energy economics are rarely, if ever, mentioned. Yet, large civilian nuclear energy programs bring states quite a way towards developing nuclear weapons and it has been the poor economics of nuclear energy, more than any other force, which has hampered most states’ adoption of such projects.
Last week, the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy failed to mention the need to counter the spread of nuclear weapons, as did the White House’s National Security Strategy, released several weeks earlier. As I argue in the attached Breaking Defense piece, “America Needs a Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy…Again,” this lapse is disappointing, […]
Just before New Year’s, Thomas Grant and I wrote a piece, “Maybe Arms Control Does Have a Future,” for The Wall Street Journal. The op-ed explains how the United States should exploit the April Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference to get Moscow and Beijing to […]
Earlier this week, the White House released its National Security Strategy. Within hours, the Washington commentariat began slicing and dicing every paragraph. What they didn’t do, however, was reflect on what was missing from the document—any mention of extended deterrence or nuclear nonproliferation. As I […]
Oct 3, 2025 CBS Eye on the World interviews Henry Sokolski on whether the Pentagon is ready to protect the American homeland, what that would entail, and what to make of Pakistan’s recent nuclear guarantees of Saudi security. CBS-NPEC weekly roundup asks if the Pentagon is ready […]
September 26, 2025 CBS Eye on the World interviews Henry Sokolski on NPEC’s analysis of the military case for proportionality regarding the targeting of certain civilian objects, including nuclear plants. CBS-NPEC weekly roundup examines NPEC’s analysis of the military case for proportionality regarding the targeting of certain […]
September 19, 2025 CBS Eye on the World interviews Henry Sokolski on Iran’s NPT “right” to enrich uranium, Iran’s attack of NPEC’s recent published view that it doesn’t, and the latest Pakistani-Saudi agreement that affords Riyadh Pakistani nuclear security guarantees. CBS-NPEC weekly roundup examines Iran’s NPT “right” […]
In August, Russia accused Ukraine of attacking an auxiliary transformer that forced a 50 percent reduction in the operating capacity of its Kursk nuclear plant. No radiation was released. It was a textbook example of how to disable a nuclear plant without directly assaulting it. In […]
September 12, 2025 CBS Eye on the World interviews Henry Sokolski on how much nuclear power will supply electricity to AI servers by 2030 & what the West has yet to do to deal with Iranian threats to leave the NPT. CBS-NPEC roundup examines how much nuclear […]
September 5, 2025 CBS Eye on the World interviews Henry Sokolski on the national security risks of endorsing the commercial use of plutonium-based fuels now being proposed by Oklo, Curio, and others that could be quickly processed a bit further to produce nuclear weapons fuel. CBS-NPEC round-up […]
In January, I shared a Bulletin of Atomic Scientists piece with you in which I recommended President Trump protect our nuclear power plants from drone strikes. In the attached piece, “It’s past time to start protecting U.S. nuclear power reactors from drones,” I return to this topic. […]
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