Author | Lightnews

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 11h

Makes one wonder if the Louvre has ever done security drills under realistic conditions. It sits in the heart of a major city—where security is complex. Hard not to think about that as some countries explore putting small modular reactors in dense urban areas.

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 12h

There are other important lessons for nuclear security: The security system failed. Police were first notified by a cyclist going by, not by the museum. The museum cameras were in poor condition, which led to a delay in response. Classic complacency & weak org culture leading to bad security.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 12h

Most important point: “Trust has been difficult to build again.” missionlocal.org/2025/10/navy...

U.S. Navy found elevated plutonium in Bayview — S.F. says it was kept in the dark

San Francisco officials say they weren’t told that the Navy detected plutonium at the Hunters Point Shipyard for 11 months.

missionlocal.org

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 12h

"Even so, she said the latest arrests did not uncover the loot." This is why nuclear security is so important: Once material is stolen, it is very hard to get back. www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...

Key details emerge in Louvre jewel heist as 5 more are arrested

Key planning details have snapped into focus.

www.pbs.org

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

I'd argue testing in the hands of anyone is a bad idea, but point well taken.

Diane in Ohio @dianeb1.bsky.social · 1d

Testing of nuclear weapons in the hands of Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth. Sounds like a bad idea.

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

In the 33 years before the U.S. halted nuclear testing in 1992, countries conducted over 1,000 tests. In the 33 years since? Roughly 20. The global moratorium—and the treaty backing it—has curbed both the spread and sophistication of nuclear weapons worldwide.

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Reposted by Nickolas Roth

James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 1d

And has done so to the United States' advantage, even in a narrow military-technical sense.

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

In the 33 years before the U.S. halted nuclear testing in 1992, countries conducted over 1,000 tests. In the 33 years since? Roughly 20. The global moratorium—and the treaty backing it—has curbed both the spread and sophistication of nuclear weapons worldwide.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

Even if recent remarks on nuclear testing were ambiguous, their impact could be significant. The U.S. has not earned the benefit of the doubt—and even vague suggestions of renewed testing risk fueling alarm and mistrust.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

Testing again would also be a domestic political mistake.
With weakened safeguards for public health and the environment, do we want to risk returning to the days of finding strontium-90 in baby teeth?
The people most harmed could be the very voters the administration depends on.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

A U.S. nuclear test today would be a show of force at the expense of stability.
It would invite other countries to follow suit and erode confidence in the scientific foundation that keeps the US deterrent credible.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

The U.S. does still test its nuclear weapons—by taking them apart, examining components, running experiments, and conducting non-nuclear tests. This is how we maintain confidence in the stockpile without explosions. Resuming explosive testing would undermine this practice.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · 1d

In the 33 years before the U.S. halted nuclear testing in 1992, countries conducted over 1,000 tests. In the 33 years since? Roughly 20. The global moratorium—and the treaty backing it—has curbed both the spread and sophistication of nuclear weapons worldwide.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Jun 22

My point exactly www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...

U.S. Officials Concede They Don’t Know Whereabouts of Iran’s Uranium Stockpile

www.nytimes.com

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Jun 22

“Uranium is not that difficult to come by, Jon, but enriching uranium up to the point of a nuclear weapon, that is what the president put a stop to last night.” They are obfuscating the difference between weapons grade and weapons-useable, making the attack seem more successful than it was.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Jun 22

“But what we know, Jon, is they no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium, and that was really the goal here.”

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Jun 22

The answer is unnerving: “Well, we're going to work in the coming weeks. Yeah, Jon, we're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel, and that's one of the things that we're going to have conversations with the Iranians about…”
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Jun 22

The administration is either downplaying the risk of unaccounted for weapons useable material in Iran or is unaware. From this morning’s interview with VP vance:

“The UN's Atomic Energy Watchdog said that Iran had 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium. Do we know what has become of that?”

Full Episode: Sunday, June 22, 2025

Podcast Episode · This Week with George Stephanopoulos · 06/22/2025 · 53m

podcasts.apple.com

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · May 15

Want to kill the nuclear renaissance? Tie it to costly, risky, and unnecessary separated plutonium. www.reuters.com/business/ene...

US would assess nuclear waste, plutonium for reactor fuel under draft order

Nuclear waste and radioactive plutonium would be assessed as a fuel for reactors under a draft executive order being considered by the administration of President Donald Trump on expanding nuclear power, moves opposed by nonproliferation experts.

www.reuters.com

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Mar 13

This is the Mona Lisa of my nuclear nightmares.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Mar 10

The Trump administration is proposing a 7% cut to Department of Energy Nonproliferation programs to fund unnecessary nuclear weapons programs. Doesn't sound like much, until you see the long term trend. Obsolescence by a thousand cuts, but the cuts began long before the 2nd Trump administration.

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Mar 8

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/s...

Trump Freeze on Aid to Nuclear Inspectors Undercuts His Iran Policy

The president’s halt of foreign aid upended two U.S. programs that help the International Atomic Energy Agency find clues about Iran’s drive to build atomic bombs.

www.nytimes.com

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Mar 6

"A 60 percent cut would be significantly more severe, according to the memo. It would fundamentally eliminate America’s role in preventing the spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons..." www.wired.com/story/pentag...

Pentagon Cuts Threaten Programs That Secure Loose Nukes and Weapons of Mass Destruction

Documents obtained by WIRED show the US Department of Defense is considering cutting up to 75 percent of workers who stop the spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

www.wired.com

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Feb 28

"Two weeks after it was hit by a drone, Ukrainian firefighters are still trying to extinguish smouldering fires within the large structure built over the reactor destroyed in the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident..." www.iaea.org/newscenter/p...

Update 278 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine | IAEA

www.iaea.org

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Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Feb 24

Hard to tell the difference between DOGE & threat/adversary behavior. “Even if people don’t send classified information, the aggregation of all this information in one place would become classified information, which is a national security violation..." www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Several administration officials tell workers not to reply to Musk email

Leaders at defense and intelligence offices were particularly wary of Musk’s demand over the weekend asking workers to outline what they did last week.

www.washingtonpost.com

Nickolas Roth @nickolasroth.bsky.social · Feb 20

I can’t believe the next NTI Index might have to downgrade the United States for not having an independent nuclear regulator…😡 apnews.com/article/trum...

Trump seeks greater control of independent regulators with his new executive order

President Donald Trump is moving to give the White House direct control of independent federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal C...

apnews.com

Reposted by Nickolas Roth

Joe Cirincione @joecirin.bsky.social · Feb 18

Many of those Elon Musk fired are part of the management team overseeing tens of thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians who build, maintain and guard the U.S. arsenal of some 5,000 nuclear weapons. Chaos and Nuclear Weapons are not a good mix. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | DOGE’s incompetence is a threat to America’s nuclear safety

The Trump administration is showing why chaos and nuclear weapons are not a good mix.

www.msnbc.com

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