{"id":1911962,"date":"2023-04-08T20:27:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-09T00:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/henry-sokolski-and-andrea-stricker-biden-is-letting-america-help-fund-russias-nuclear-weapon-complex\/"},"modified":"2023-04-08T20:29:12","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T00:29:12","slug":"henry-sokolski-and-andrea-stricker-biden-is-letting-america-help-fund-russias-nuclear-weapon-complex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/henry-sokolski-and-andrea-stricker-biden-is-letting-america-help-fund-russias-nuclear-weapon-complex\/","title":{"rendered":"Henry Sokolski and Andrea Stricker: Biden Is Letting America Help Fund Russia\u2019s Nuclear-Weapon Complex"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhenry-sokolski-and-andrea-stricker-biden-is-letting-america-help-fund-russias-nuclear-weapon-complex%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1911962&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<p>Vladimir Putin seems intent on <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/26\/ukraine-calls-for-emergency-un-security-council-meeting-after-putins-nuke-announcement\/\">threatening the West with nuclear war<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s bizarre is Washington and its allies are helping him.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian dictator just proclaimed he may <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/25\/russia-will-be-staging-nukes-in-belarus-putin-says\/\">station nuclear bombs in Belarus<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The US intelligence community assessed in February that Moscow had \u201cincreased its reliance on nuclear weapons\u201d following its invasion of Ukraine and would further expand its atomic capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Next, Putin killed the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/29\/russia-says-it-will-no-longer-share-info-about-missile-tests\/\">last remaining US-Russia nuclear-arms-control treaty<\/a> and increased Moscow\u2019s nuclear readiness. <\/p>\n<p>Amid mounting losses in Ukraine, Putin has also threatened to use nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s been Washington\u2019s response? <\/p>\n<p>To object to each of these actions rhetorically but insist on buying billions in nuclear goods from Rosatom, the entity responsible for developing and producing Russia\u2019s nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, Europe and the United States buy roughly $1 billion of civilian nuclear goods and services directly from Rosatom. <\/p>\n<p>Hungary, Bulgaria and France are quite busy trading with the Russian conglomerate. <\/p>\n<p>US uranium mining and enrichment is not the cheapest or most available, and that is why America buys Russian. US nuclear utilities purchase 14% of the enriched uranium they need to fuel their reactors from Rosatom.<\/p>\n<p>This is disturbing, but it gets worse.<\/p>\n<p>The US intelligence community recently warned, \u201cRussia is expanding and modernizing its large, diverse, and modern set of nonstrategic systems, which are capable of delivering nuclear or conventional warheads.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/04\/NYPICHPDPICT000008931496.jpg\"> <\/a><figcaption>A Russian missile launcher being transported in an undisclosed location in Russia.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span>Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rosatom will play a key role in this expansion. <\/p>\n<p>At last accounting, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute pegged Rosatom\u2019s annual support for Russia\u2019s nuclear-weapons budget at $2 billion a year.<\/p>\n<p>Rosatom admits it is a \u201cproponent of the uniform national policy\u201d in \u201cthe nuclear weapons industry.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Its director general sits on Russia\u2019s Military-Industrial Commission, which coordinates Moscow\u2019s defense industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe military significance of atomic power (and Rosatom) to Russia is amply demonstrated by the fact that the corporation oversees Russia\u2019s nuclear weapons complex, which develops, tests and produces all of the country\u2019s nuclear munitions,\u201d a NATO analysis concludes. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRosatom\u2019s achievements have strengthened Russia\u2019s national security and enhanced Moscow\u2019s ability to challenge the US-led world order.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s more.<\/p>\n<p>Rosatom is also a key player in Russia\u2019s occupation and theft of the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/01\/21\/fears-mount-as-russian-attacks-again-threaten-ukrainian-nuclear-plant\/\">Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, <\/a>where Ukrainian workers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/russian-occupation-of-nuclear-plant-turns-brutal-with-accusations-of-torture-and-beatings-11668786893\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">routinely subject<\/a> to Russian atrocities. <\/p>\n<p>The International Atomic Energy Agency\u2019s director general, Rafael Grossi, has repeatedly decried Putin\u2019s dangerous military assaults against Ukraine\u2019s nuclear plants and has even had to station IAEA personnel at the Zaporizhzhia plant to deter attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Rosatom\u2019s punishment for this? Zilch. <\/p>\n<p>Instead, the United States and the West continue to serve as clients and consider Russia an IAEA member in good standing.<\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/04\/NYPICHPDPICT000008982166.jpg\"> <\/a><figcaption>International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi and staff members touring the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine on March 29, 2023. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span>Fredrik Dahl\/IAEA\/Handout via REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Finally, Rosatom is collaborating with Beijing, fueling a Chinese option to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/17\/house-gop-warns-of-russia-helping-china-make-nukes\/\">expand its nuclear stockpile. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Before Congress recently, Assistant Secretary of Defense John Plumb confirmed Rosatom sent tons of enriched uranium to China for Beijing\u2019s fast-reactor program, which will produce extremely high-grade weapons plutonium.<\/p>\n<p>The reaction from the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Armed Services committees\u2019 chairmen was swift: \u201cEvery dollar and euro that Rosatom brings in directly finances the death and destruction we see in Ukraine, China\u2019s nuclear weapon expansion, and is a direct threat to the American way of life,\u201d they warned, demanding \u201cthe full application of sanctions\u201d to stop Putin\u2019s use of Rosatom to \u201cchallenge U.S. interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Biden has yet to act. His administration has been overly risk-averse to upsetting energy markets and the nuclear industry and to disrupting transatlantic unity over Ukraine. <\/p>\n<p>The Biden team has stood down for months on sanctioning the Russian corporate behemoth, despite Kyiv\u2019s numerous entreaties. <\/p>\n<p>Nor has Congress passed any legislation on this matter.<\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/04\/NYPICHPDPICT000009216021.jpg\"> <\/a><figcaption>The Biden administration has yet to sanction Rosatom.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span>Photo by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some European states \u2014 such as Germany and Finland \u2014 have cut their ties to Rosatom; others have not. <\/p>\n<p>The European Union is debating whether and how to sanction Rosatom. <\/p>\n<p>The United States should invigorate this debate by demonstrating its own willingness to cut off nuclear dependency on Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Washington should announce it is ending imports of Russian uranium ore and buy replacement supplies from Canada and Australia. <\/p>\n<p>For US reactors still dependent on Rosatom fuel, nuclear utilities can feed additional uranium imports to enrichment plants operating in Western Europe and New Mexico to make fuel. Washington might even elect to support this shift financially. <\/p>\n<p>As for Europe and other countries, the White House and Congress should consider threatening secondary sanctions against foreign persons and entities that do not wind down business with Rosatom within a specific time period.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If we are serious about limiting Putin\u2019s most frightening nuclear activities, we should start by blocking their funding \u2014 from us.<\/p>\n<p><em>Henry Sokolski is executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center and was deputy for nonproliferation policy in the Department of Defense. Andrea Stricker is deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program and a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vladimir Putin seems intent on threatening the West with nuclear war. What\u2019s bizarre is Washington and its allies are helping him. The Russian dictator just proclaimed he may station nuclear bombs in Belarus. The US intelligence community assessed in February that Moscow had \u201cincreased its reliance on nuclear weapons\u201d following its invasion of Ukraine and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1911963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5374,19575,3620,12293,4338,9196,8277,23877,9987,23878,23876],"class_list":["post-1911962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-america","tag-andrea","tag-biden","tag-complex","tag-fund","tag-henry","tag-letting","tag-nuclear-weapon","tag-russias","tag-sokolski","tag-stricker"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1911962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1911963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1911962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1911962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1911962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}