Arms Control Wonk

Episode36 min

Russian Nuclear Doctrine in the Financial Times

Max Seddon and Chris Cook with the Financial Times have written an excellent piece on leaked Russian Naval documents that FT saw, focused on thresholds for Russian nuclear use, especially in a war scenario with China.  Jeffrey and Aaron go…

Episode44 min

Jeffrey Visits the Test Site

Road trip to Vegas. As part of an NGO transparency visit, NNSA opened up the Nevada Test Site to a group of international nuclear weapons experts, including one Dr. Jeffrey Lewis. Jeffrey goes through what he saw: P Tunnel, The…

Episode26 min

Russia Buys North Korean Missiles

Shoigu went shopping.  Russia is buying KN-23 and KN-25 missiles from North Korea and launching them in support of its invasion of Ukraine. Imagery from on the ground clearly shows North Korean style solid-propellant missiles. Jeffrey and Aaron talk about…

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…