Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 9h

Congratulations to former Managing the Atom Stanton Fellow Sébastien Phillippe, winner of a MacArthur Fellowship (the "genius grant")! Amazing work, from disarmament verification to remarkable work assessing past consequences of nuclear testing and potential consequences of nuclear war.

Sébastien Philippe

Exposing past harms and potential risks from building, testing, and storing launch-ready nuclear weapons.

www.macfound.org

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Project on Managing the Atom @managingtheatom.bsky.social · 9d

@matthew-bunn.bsky.social recently contributed to an article written for The New York Times on "Why Don't Data Centers Use More Green Energy" www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 11d

Fastest nuclear reduction steps that have ever been taken.

Kori Schake @kschake.bsky.social · 11d

Excellent thread on the unilateral reciprocals from @atomicanalyst.bsky.social

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11d

Tonight in 1991, President George H.W. Bush ordered the unilateral elimination of all land-based US nuclear weapons in Europe and South Korea, all nonstrategic naval nuclear weapons, the end of ground alert for all strategic bombers, and the immediate de-alerting of all 450 Minuteman II ICBMs.

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 12d

New post looks at what Russia is trying to achieve with its airspace provocations; the NATO and EU response; Trump’s apparent change of heart; and the latest ideas on helping Ukraine manage the financial burden of the war. (£/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/russian-pr...

Russian provocations

How should NATO and the EU react?

samf.substack.com

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 12d

Today’s shameful shadow docket decision from the Supreme Court—allowing Trump to unilaterally cancel $4 billion in aid—is not behavior that any healthy democracy tolerates of its judiciary. It is a sign of constitutional rot that precedes the rule of law’s collapse. slate.com/news-and-pol...

The Supreme Court Just Rewrote the Constitution to Give Trump Terrifying New Powers

The conservative supermajority's lawless shadow docket decision let the president unilaterally cancel $4 billion in foreign aid.

slate.com

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 13d

Today in 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed the United Nations General Assembly and memorably warned, “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. ...”

A color photograph of President Kennedy addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 25, 1961.

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 13d

In the Bulletin, I argue that continuing compliance with the central limits of New START for a year, or two, or three, would offer time for exploring what future accords might help avoid the dangers of a three-way nuclear arms competition.

François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social · 13d

🚨 JUST IN: President Donald Trump has an opportunity to avoid the dangers of an unrestrained nuclear arms competition—something he has repeatedly warned about. Will he seize it?

Latest by Matt Bunn (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social) in @thebulletin.org

#nuclearweapons #nukesky #Trump #Putin #China

Putin just gave Trump the opportunity to maintain nuclear restraint. Will he seize it?

Extending New START will also give time for Trump to work with Russia and China on future arms control accords.

thebulletin.org

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 14d

So two things:

1) Maybe Bessent should Google about the one time NATO’s Article V was actually invoked;

2) I’d be happy to spring for a “Alliances: How Do They Work?” tutorial for Bessent.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14d

Bessent on why US troops won't get involved in defending Europe: "As I told my European counterparts about two weeks ago, 'All I hear from you is that Putin wants to march into Warsaw. The one thing I'm sure of is that Putin isn't marching into Boston.'"

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Before traveling to the Alaska summit, Trump was asked about the pending expiration of New START, and said: “That’s not an agreement you want expiring. We’re starting to work on that.” Let's hope he seizes the opportunity of Putin's offer -- and then uses the time to explore new accords.

Kingston Reif @kingstonareif.bsky.social · 16d

At the White House, Mr. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Mr. Trump was “aware of this offer extended by President Putin” and said he would soon comment on it. “I think it sounds pretty good,” Ms. Leavitt said. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/w...

Putin Proposes One More Year of Nuclear Caps With U.S.

www.nytimes.com

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Reprocessing is far more expensive than not doing so -- and a major multi-lab study of the advanced fuel cycle options concluded that the pyroprocessing approach Oklo and others think will be so cheap might be even MORE expensive. www.anl.gov/nse/advanced...

Advanced Fuel Cycle Cost Basis Report

Informing on nuclear fuel cycle costs: present and future

www.anl.gov

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Traditionally, fast reactors have been significantly MORE expensive than traditional reactors -- and if there's one thing nuclear energy doesn't need, it's more expensive approaches that also pose more proliferation risk.

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Worth noting that in the George W. Bush administration, they did a detailed nonproliferation assessment of the many schemes for processing spent nuclear fuel, and concluded that approaches like pyroprocessing posed almost as much risk as traditional reprocessing. www.energy.gov/sites/prod/f...

www.energy.gov

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Important WaPo story on the challenges of reprocessing, quoting me and others: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump’s nuclear ‘renaissance’ rests on risky plan for radioactive waste

The administration goes all-in on recycling spent fuel, despite a history of spectacular mishaps, including an unintentional atom bomb.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

CONNECTED on TaiwanPlus @connectedtwplus.bsky.social · 16d

Ukraine’s ability to withstand Russian missile strikes offers crucial lessons for Taiwan as it contends with China’s massive missile arsenal.

Joined by Harvard Kennedy School’s Matthew Bunn (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social), we look at Taiwan’s anti-missile defense strategy.

📺 youtu.be/hqKgbqG1h8w

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn

CONNECTED on TaiwanPlus @connectedtwplus.bsky.social · 16d

The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, Houthi strikes on maritime trade and China’s growing arsenal show how missile warfare is reshaping the battlefield.

Harvard Kennedy School’s Matthew Bunn (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social) breaks down where missile warfare stands today.

📺 youtu.be/Gicn-GdOAiQ

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

President Trump should seize the opportunity to maintain nuclear restraint and agree with Russian President Putin's proposal to stay within the New START limits for 1 year, to give time to explore future accords. www.rferl.org/a/russia-nuc...

Putin Offers To Extend Last Nuclear Arms Pact With US

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to extend the New START treaty between Moscow and Washington -- the last remaining nuclear arms deal between the two countries, which is due to expire in F...

www.rferl.org

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

There's a lot more, including promoting U.S. nuclear energy exports (which would increase U.S. nuclear influence) while taking steps to limit associated proliferation risks.

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Some headlines: bipartisan consensus on
* Nonproliferation as a top national security priority
* Opposing the spread of nuclear weapons anywhere, including to allies
* At least attempting to revitalize nonproliferation cooperation with Russia and China
* Expanded steps to combat nuclear terrorism.

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 16d

Proud to be part of the high-level, bipartisan Task Force on Nuclear Proliferation and U.S. National Security, which just released its report, calling for nonproliferation to remain a top U.S. national security priority and offering ideas for a revitalized strategy to counter growing risk.

Preventing an Era of Nuclear Anarchy: Nuclear Proliferation and American Security

This report summarizes the deliberations of the Task Force on Nuclear Proliferation and U.S. National Security, convened by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Carnegie ...

www.belfercenter.org

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 17d

"It is probable that Putin yawned when, on Friday, Trump said his patience was 'running out fast' and 'we’re going to have to come down very, very strong.'"
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | A seamlessly unserious president

Damage from Trump’s protectionism mounts domestically as danger abroad rises.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 19d

Control:
• Executive
• Legislature
• Courts
Modify: election processes, reject losses
Dominate:
• Media
• Big companies
• Universities
Persecute, intimidate: critics, all who speak out

The authoritarian playbook.

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 19d

"When citizens must think twice about criticizing or opposing the government because they could credibly face government retribution, they no longer live in a full democracy." A thought from months ago seems even more relevant today.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...