A sampling of what's available...

US nuclear forces, 2013

By Hans M. Kristensen, Robert S. Norris

Analysis - Nuclear Weapons

If the Boston Marathon attack had involved dirty bombs

It's only a matter of time before terrorists target a big city with an explosive that includes radioactive material.

Interview with Siegfried Hecker: North Korea complicates the long-term picture

If North Korea restarts its nuclear facilities, the near-term threat will change little, but the possibility that the country could eventually enlarge its nuclear arsenal grows.

A broader reading of seismic waves from North Korea

How the North Korean nuclear test confirms the world's ability to monitor the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

An open letter to President Obama: The time on the Doomsday Clock is five minutes to midnight

The Bulletin's Science and Security Board announces that the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock remains at five minutes to midnight. In this open letter to US President Barack Obama, the Board highlights what initiatives in 2013 could help turn back the Clock.

Explain This: Subcritical experiments

In early December, the US National Nuclear Security Administration conducted Pollux, the nation's 27th subcritical experiment since it ended nuclear tests in 1992. In this month's "Explain This," the Bulletin turns to Princeton's Frank von Hippel to provide background on these experiments.

Underestimated or overestimated? North Korea’s satellite launch in perspective

What it means -- and doesn't -- that North Korea launched its Unha-3 rocket and successfully placed a satellite into orbit.

Buck Rogers and the atomic education of America

Atomic Comics tells the story of the nuclear age through the comic books that made it comprehensible to the masses, raising a provocative question: Could pop culture be the most effective method of warning the public about existential dangers?

On the brink of war -- and childbirth -- in Idaho

A former colonel in the US Air Force recalls his efforts to prepare then-brand-new Titan I missiles based in Idaho for use during the Cuban Missile Crisis -- as his wife prepared to give birth to a son.

On the brink of the abyss in the Urals

A former colonel of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces recalls the wrenching emotions he experienced as he helped to prepare a missile base in the Ural Mountains for an attack on the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis

Current Science and Security Board and Board of Sponsors members -- those who together decide the time of the Doomsday Clock -- share their personal memories or personal reflections of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

50 years ago: The Cuban Missile Crisis and its underappreciated hero

An unassuming UN secretary-general from Burma enabled the United States and the Soviet Union to take a step back from the nuclear brink.

Trust, but socially verify

Adapting old concepts of arms control to Web 2.0.

Contemplating a third nuclear test in North Korea

A closer look at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site using commercial satellite imagery and Google Earth.

SILEX and proliferation

A dangerous new enrichment technology called SILEX threatens to enhance the ability of countries to make nuclear weapons. The US government is turning a blind eye to the problem -- for the near exclusive benefit of a few, mostly foreign corporations.

The case for a world republic

Our antinuclear ancestors insisted that humanity must move beyond just the abolition of nuclear weapons and move toward the prohibition of armies, the elimination of tribal enclaves, and the abolition of war itself.

NATO needs a vision

In Chicago, NATO members finalized their Afghanistan plans. But they did not adequately deal with other major issues -- especially tactical nuclear weapons and missile defense -- and so failed to dispel doubts about the alliance's long-term value.

Technical concerns: Why Russia worries about missile defense

Ahead of NATO's summit in Chicago, Russian military experts say fast interceptor missiles in northern Europe and flexibility of design make the West's missile defense plans potentially destabilizing.

Flight from disarmament

India's successful launch of the Agni-5 missile is just the latest display of the country's expanding defense establishment. India's intensive modernization of its nuclear weapons program is worth a closer look -- especially in light of the nation's call for disarmament.