In what may be the most depressing article I’ve read since the epithets “Rocket Man” and “Dotard” entered the global lexicon, The Harvard Crimson reports that public approval of nuclear weapons use remains strong in the United States.

Pakistan has long been considered a potential source of nuclear weapons for terrorists, even before it had a full-fledged nuclear program and decades before it demonstrated a yield-bearing nuclear explosive capability.

The most dangerous moment of the nuclear age -- and likely any age -- unfolded 50 years ago as the world waited and trembled. For 13 harrowing days, the leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba brought the planet within a hair's breadth of nuclear catastrophe. Despite the seemingly halcyon stability of deterrence throughout the Cold War, there were numerous moments during the Cuban Missile Crisis that could have escalated into full-blown nuclear war.

For most Americans, 3/11 has no particular significance. (Hint: it's not that rock band from Omaha.) Some Europeans associate it with the Madrid train bombings of March 11, 2004. But, in Japan, 3/11 is universally recognized as shorthand for the events of March 11, 2011, when a huge offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami that devastated the country's northeastern coast and swamped emergency cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

In the past two decades, at least two terrorist groups have made serious attempts at obtaining nuclear weapons or the nuclear material needed to make them. They won't be the last. Foiling terrorists willing to inflict unlimited damage requires the international community to prioritize the nuclear stocks that pose the greatest risks and take immediate steps to eliminate or secure them.

While the earthquake and tsunami leading up to what happened at Fukushima Daiichi could not have been avoided, certain culture-based measures could have been implemented before, during, and immediately after the accident to help prevent the accident or mitigate the consequences. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, The Fukushima Daiichi Accident, identified complacency among … Continued

Cyberattacks on nuclear weapons systems are all too plausible. Can nuclear deterrence survive when the weapons themselves are at risk?

Conspiracy theorists are at it again, coming up with wild claims to undermine the special prosecutor. Here’s a second look at what really happened. 

As the Soviet Union unraveled, US and Russian weapon scientists began a historic collaboration.

En su ensayo de la tercera ronda, Siddharth Mallavarapu —respondiendo a mi declaración previa de que ahora es el momento para un plan de acción para el desarme, sin necesidad de aportar argumentos adicionales a favor de ello— señaló "que un plan de acción no puede separarse del argumento". Tiene razón y, a lo mejor, … Continued

The evacuation plans governments draw up in case of a nuclear accident or attack may not work.

Foreign Affairs magazine publishes an unusual package, in which the lead article claims nuclear weapons no longer matter, and all the rest of the articles show why they do.

Conspiracy theorists are coming up with wild claims to undermine the special prosecutor's credibility. Here's what really happened.

Iraq is in an energy crisis. Is resurrecting the country’s nuclear power program really the solution?

A close analysis of probable scenarios suggests that a final Iranian nuclear agreement is unlikely to trigger a Middle East nuclear weapons cascade 

For immediate release: January 15, 2016 Bulletin Media Contact: Janice Sinclaire, [email protected] CHICAGO– January 15, 2016 – The nuclear agreement that Iran and six major world powers signed in 2015 has focused attention on Middle Eastern nuclear politics. But as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Executive Editor and Publisher, Rachel Bronson, observes, that deal … Continued

In his Round Three essay, Siddharth Mallavarapu—responding to my earlier assertion that now is the time for action toward disarmament, not further arguments in favor of it—wrote that "action cannot be divorced from argument." He is correct, and I may have overstated my case in my earlier essay. Indeed, the best approach toward abolishing nuclear … Continued

Here’s the question I can’t help but ask as I read through this roundtable, including some readers’ responses to it: What’s so wrong with discussing a nuclear weapon ban treaty? This seemingly simple question can be understood in at least two ways. First, it’s a reaction to certain critics of the ban treaty initiative who … Continued

He thought the unthinkable. He took a political risk to advance what looked to be an unpopular idea. He put the security of his country, and indeed the world, ahead of his own political interests. He reached out, not only to another political party but to America’s former mortal enemy.