New and newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has declined to make available to the public online include the following. Mexico’s Oil and Gas Sector: Background, Reform Efforts, and Implications for the United States, November 18, 2013 U.S.-Mexico Water Sharing: Background and Recent Developments, November 19, 2013 Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines: […]
Newly published briefing slides from a Los Alamos history of the Russian nuclear weapons program include rare images and photographs of key personalities and facilities in the Russian (formerly Soviet) nuclear program. See History of the Russian Nuclear Weapon Program by Houston T. Hawkins, Los Alamos National Laboratory, November 19, 2013 (large PDF file).
A new review by the Inspector General of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that classified documents at the Agency are riddled with errors. Because the EPA has a minuscule classification program that hardly generates any classified material, it may be seen as a microcosm of the larger classification system. Only eight original classifications have […]
The Director of National Intelligence yesterday declassified and released hundreds of pages of records concerning collection under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, illuminating the origins of bulk collection of email metadata, as well as interactions with the FISA Court and Congress. “We will make the information public that we can make public, and we will […]
“In 2012, 46.5 million people were counted as poor in the United States,” according to a newly updated annual report from the Congressional Research Service. “The number, statistically unchanged over the past three years, is the largest recorded in the measure’s 54-year history.” “Poverty in the United States increased markedly from 2007 through 2010, in […]
By Hans M. Kristensen A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report – Options For Reducing the Deficit: 2014-2023 – proposes reducing the Navy’s fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines from the 14 boats today to 8 in 2020. That would save $11 billion in 2015-2023, and another $30 billion during the 2030s from buying four […]
A congressional impasse on what to do with U.S. reactors’ spent nuclear fuel could last to 2017 or beyond unless a compromise can be found between the House and Senate. The House has voted to support finishing review of the site license application for the Yucca Mountain repository, but the Senate has not. Facing opposition […]
A look at the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and its work to reduce the amount of vulnerable nuclear and radiological material located at civilian sites worldwide and improve protection of these materials.
Formed over 6 billion years ago, uranium, a dense, silvery-white metal, was created “during the fiery lifetimes and explosive deaths in stars in the heavens around us,” stated Nobel Laureate Arno Penzias.1 With a radioactive half-life of about 4.5 billion years, uranium-238 is the most dominant of several unstable uranium isotopes in nature and has […]
Whether an oil and gas company is working in the United States or is spread throughout the world, it will face geopolitical and cyber risks which could affect global energy security. Geopolitical Risk There are numerous geopolitical risks for any oil and gas company. Even if a company just works in the United States, it […]
The election of Hassan Rouhani as the president of Iran has breathed new life into the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. In recent months, a flurry of meetings has raised hopes that this program can remain peaceful and that war with Iran can be averted. But barriers still block progress. Among the major sticking points […]
Starting from literally table-top science in 1939, the development of a full-fledged nuclear weapons production system in the United States by late summer 1945 is properly regarded as a near-miraculous achievement. It’s no surprise that the Manhattan Project has long been hailed as one of the great success stories of modern science and technology. But […]