Search

As part of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ 70th anniversary issue, author and investigative journalist Eric Schlosser surveys a nuclear landscape full of dangers, from worldwide nuclear weapons modernization programs and heightened nuclear rhetoric to burgeoning stockpiles of fissile mater

In 2012, an effort to establish a zone in the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction ran out of momentum.

Many countries have long pursued fast neutron breeder reactors, which create more fissile fuel than they consume, because of the expectation that the world will run out of the low-cost uranium used for fuel in most commercial nuclear power reactors.

For decades before it was selected for closure, the Treasure Island Naval Station in San Francisco Bay overhauled military ships and housed nuclear war academies that used radium, plutonium, and cesium 137 in their training courses.

Lack of access to modern energy services represents a pressing problem in the developing world, not least for women.

This book excerpt argues that the growth of nuclear weapons technology has concentrated the power to kill entire populations in the executive branch and made the US president effectively an elected monarch.

The United States maintains huge stockpiles of plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) for weapons use—far larger than needed for any conceivable military contingency.

Autonomous weapons are robotic systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.

Despite uncertainty in defense funding levels, several emerging technology areas could shape the US military over the next decade or so, including unmanned systems, autonomous systems, cyber weaponry, three-dimensional printing, and directed-energy weapons.

As of December 1, 2013, a total of 429 nuclear reactors were considered operational in 31 countries. The nuclear industry is in decline, however, with global electricity generation from nuclear power plants down by a record 7 percent in 2012.