Years

2023

25 posts

Article

North Korea’s ELWR Now Appears Operating

Under constructing since 2010, North Korea appears to have finally begun operating a new reactor at Yongbyon that could be a significant source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons program — but many of questions remain. North Korea’s Experimental Light-Water…

Episode39 min

North Korea’s New Satellite

North Korea finally got a reconnaissance satellite into orbit, after several failed prior attempts! While it is a little rough around the edges, every program has to start somewhere. Jeffrey and Aaron talk through the implications of the DPRK’s reconnaissance…

Episode9 min

The Reason We’re all Still Here

Take a listen to the latest season of Jeffrey Lewis’s podcast, The Reason We’re All Still Here Far too often, governments behave like toddlers. They’re fickle. They don’t like to share. And good luck getting them to pay attention to any…

Episode33 min

Shenanigans in Novaya Zemlya

Looks like everyone is preparing for a party.  Between Russia’s potential un-signing of a nuclear test treaty, threats to test “if the United States does,” and refurbishments at Novaya Zemlya, things aren’t looking great for the longevity of nuclear test…

Article

Nuclear Test Sites Are Too Damn Busy

This is the written summary accompanying the satellite images we provided to CNN about the worrisome levels of activity we see at Russian, Chinese and US nuclear test sites.

Article

Errors in Analysis of the Hwasong-18

Errors in Postol’s Analysis of the Hwasong-18 Daniel Allen, Madeline Berzak, Michael Duitsman, Decker Eveleth, John Ford, Sam Lair, Jeffrey Lewis, Tricia White Key points: 🚀🚀🚀 Introduction Ted Postol’s analysis of the Hwasong-18 is marred by significant factual inaccuracies. Many…

Episode57 min

Kim Jong Un’s Excellent Adventure

Sam Lair joins the podcast to talk about Kim Jong Un’s recent whirlwind tour of the North Korean Defense Industrial Base with Jeffrey and Scott. If you’re into missiles, geolocation, and machine tools (and, if you listen to this podcast,…

Episode54 min

Oppenheimer

Jeffrey is joined by the illustrious Kelsey Atherton to discuss Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, as well as the history and legacy of the titular man himself. Kelsey and Jeffrey dive into the choice to focus on Oppenheimer’s own security legacy and…

Article

Kelsey Atherton’s Barbenheimer

This is a guest post by Kelsey Atherton. Kelsey D. Atherton is a military technology journalist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work has appeared in Popular Science, The New York Times, Slate, and elsewhere. You can find his work at Wars of Future…

Episode34 min

Hiroshima 2023

Jeffrey is back from Hiroshima, where he participated in a Track 2 nuclear dialogue. The outlook for near-term arms control is still grim. Jeffrey and Aaron unpack the G7 statements on disarmament that the Japanese representatives wanted to re-affirm, the…