DIGITAL MAGAZINE

March 2024

DIGITAL MAGAZINE

March 2024

A view of the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flat. Photo by Karen Kasmauski.

Introduction: Nuclear testing in the 21st century—legacies, tensions, and risks

Moscow and Washington say they won't resume nuclear testing. But despite what officials say, some evidence could suggest otherwise.

Introduction: Nuclear testing in the 21st century—legacies, tensions, and risks

Moscow and Washington say they won't resume nuclear testing. But despite what officials say, some evidence could suggest otherwise.
Soviet nuclear test, 1949

Preserving the nuclear test ban after Russia revoked its CTBT ratification

Russia, China, and the US—along with France and the United Kingdom—have declared a testing moratorium, and all insist that they do not conduct any experiments that would violate the CTBT ban on nuclear explosions. But all of the big three keep their test sites ready for a potential resumption of full-scale tests.
radiation warning sign in Nevada desert

The logic for US ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force is in the interests of the US, as it would lock in an American advantage in nuclear knowledge and expertise and hinder other states from developing more sophisticated nuclear arms.
Kim Jong-un and Hwasong-17 ICBM

To do or not to do: Pyongyang’s seventh nuclear test calculations

A nuclear test often is as political as it is technical. The intricacies of domestic and external politics play into Pyongyang’s decisions on nuclear testing, going far beyond the technical aspects of such tests.

New confidence-building measures can reduce tensions around subcritical tests

In a world where trust in the nonproliferation regime is weakening and most bilateral arms control measures have been suspended, many experts fear that recriminations over very low-yield tests could spark a new escalation spiral to full-scale nuclear tests.
crater left over from underground nuclear test

Environmental impacts of underground nuclear weapons testing

Between 1945 and 1996, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted, three-quarters of which were underground. What is their environmental legacy?
800px-Castle_Bravo_Blast.jpg

The horrors of nuclear weapons testing

People today seem to have forgotten—if they ever knew—what a single nuclear weapon can do. The inhabitants of the Marshall Islands, whose home was turned into a nuclear proving ground, have certainly never forgotten.

Russian nuclear weapons, 2024

Russia is modernizing all its Soviet-era nuclear-capable systems. We estimate that Russia now possesses about 4,380 nuclear warheads.
Soviet nuclear test, 1949

Preserving the nuclear test ban after Russia revoked its CTBT ratification

Russia, China, and the US—along with France and the United Kingdom—have declared a testing moratorium, and all insist that they do not conduct any experiments that would violate the CTBT ban on nuclear explosions. But all of the big three keep their test sites ready for a potential resumption of full-scale tests.
radiation warning sign in Nevada desert

The logic for US ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force is in the interests of the US, as it would lock in an American advantage in nuclear knowledge and expertise and hinder other states from developing more sophisticated nuclear arms.
Kim Jong-un and Hwasong-17 ICBM

To do or not to do: Pyongyang’s seventh nuclear test calculations

A nuclear test often is as political as it is technical. The intricacies of domestic and external politics play into Pyongyang’s decisions on nuclear testing, going far beyond the technical aspects of such tests.

New confidence-building measures can reduce tensions around subcritical tests

In a world where trust in the nonproliferation regime is weakening and most bilateral arms control measures have been suspended, many experts fear that recriminations over very low-yield tests could spark a new escalation spiral to full-scale nuclear tests.
crater left over from underground nuclear test

Environmental impacts of underground nuclear weapons testing

Between 1945 and 1996, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted, three-quarters of which were underground. What is their environmental legacy?
800px-Castle_Bravo_Blast.jpg

The horrors of nuclear weapons testing

People today seem to have forgotten—if they ever knew—what a single nuclear weapon can do. The inhabitants of the Marshall Islands, whose home was turned into a nuclear proving ground, have certainly never forgotten.

Russian nuclear weapons, 2024

Russia is modernizing all its Soviet-era nuclear-capable systems. We estimate that Russia now possesses about 4,380 nuclear warheads.

A view of the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flat. Photo by Karen Kasmauski.

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Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C., between 1921 and 1923. Harris & Ewing, photographers. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016885961/

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