And how much are they prepared to pay for the putative long-term energy security and stability provided by nuclear?

BBC: Why Treasury may reject nuclear option

Lead-magnesium-niobate transducers in broadband sonars are likely to make the seas perfectly transparent, eliminating for the first time the presumed invulnerability of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the anchor of strategic nuclear stability.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

President Barack Obama has pledged to engage with some of Washington's staunchest enemies, including Iran, in a bid promote stability and contain the spread of nuclear weapons.

WSJ: U.S., South Korea Offer North Talks, and a Warning

The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the negative impact of this deeply destabilizing act on regional stability as well as the global efforts for nuclear non-proliferation.

CNN: World leaders react to North Korea's nuclear test

Clinton, who returned from Asia on Sunday after her first overseas trip as secretary of state, called North Korea's nuclear program "the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia" and has said there is a "testing period" at present about how diplomacy can move forward.

CNN: U.S. envoy for North Korea may visit Pyongyang

And the lower nuclear numbers go, the harder it gets to maintain stability and security, since unexpected challenges can have bigger consequences when a country has fewer weapons rather than many.

ECONOMIST: America and the bomb

But he said he is is particularly concerned about the security and stability of Pakistan, which is fighting its own campaign against the Taliban and has nuclear weapons.

CNN: McChrystal: Taliban ranks weakening