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Search results for nuclear terrorism

NASA kilopower moon render

Do we need highly enriched uranium in space (again)?

By Christopher Fichtlscherer | Sep 12, 2019

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the US flag on the moon 1969, the event not only marked the birth of a new generation of colonizers, but also became a general symbol of US superiority. Space exploration is an impressive demonstration of technological capabilities, and beyond that, a demonstration of state power. After a … Continued

Pakistan nuclear weapons, 2023

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns | Sep 11, 2023

Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is estimated to currently include approximately 170 warheads. It could realistically grow to around 200 by 2025 at the current growth rate.
Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 & 2 cooling towers and containment buildings.

The false promise of nuclear power in an age of climate change

By Robert Jay Lifton, Naomi Oreskes | Aug 20, 2019

The sobering reality of climate change has led some prominent observers to re-embrace nuclear energy. Advocates declare it clean, efficient, economical, and safe. In actuality it is none of these. It is expensive and poses grave dangers to our physical and psychological well-being.

The Nuclear Security Summit: Wins, losses, and draws

By Matthew Bunn | Apr 8, 2016

The just-concluded fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit saw some serious progress, but also some missed opportunities.

North Korea might not denuclearize, but the US Senate should

By Ryan A. Musto | Oct 25, 2017

The United States would have more credibility as a critic of North Korea’s nuclear program if it joined denuclearization agreements in Africa, Central Asia, and the South Pacific.
A Russian Topol-M mobile missile at a 2012 parade.

Nuclear Notebook: Russian nuclear forces, 2020

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda | Mar 1, 2020

This issue’s column examines Russia’s nuclear arsenal, which includes a stockpile of approximately 4,310 warheads. Of these, 1,570 strategic warheads are deployed on ballistic missiles and at heavy bomber bases, while an additional 870 strategic warheads, along with 1,870 nonstrategic warheads, are held in reserve. The Russian arsenal is continuing broad modernization intended to replace most Soviet-era weapons by the mid to late 2020s.

US-Russia rift threatens science ties that keep us safe

By Siegfried S. Hecker | Dec 8, 2016

For two decades, Russian and American nuclear scientists cooperated to successfully avoid catastrophe. Can they do it again?
Perdix drone swarm test.

Meet the future weapon of mass destruction, the drone swarm

By Zachary Kallenborn | Apr 5, 2021

Drone swarms are getting larger and, coupled with autonomous capability, they could pose a real threat. Think “Nagasaki” to get a sense of the death toll a massive drone swarm could theoretically inflict.
Nuclear cooling tower

Nuclear power: Why the divide in expert views?

By Joan Blades, John Harte | Oct 6, 2023

There is a sharp divide in expert opinion about the future role of nuclear power in the global energy mix. A guided conversation among six experts shows the disagreements involve speculation about future trends, rather than currently accessible facts.

Seguridad, confianza y equilibrio

By Rajiv Nayan (ES) | Aug 19, 2013

Los tres ensayos publicados en esta Mesa Redonda hasta ahora han afirmado la necesidad de un control responsable del comercio de tecnología y productos nucleares. Todos los autores desean que el comercio nuclear fluya sin problemas entre los países con sectores de energía nuclear nuevos o emergentes y, a su vez, minimizar las circunstancias que … Continued

Seguridad, confianza y equilibrio

By Rajiv Nayan (ES) | Feb 4, 2013

Los tres ensayos publicados en esta Mesa Redonda hasta ahora han afirmado la necesidad de un control responsable del comercio de tecnología y productos nucleares. Todos los autores desean que el comercio nuclear fluya sin problemas entre los países con sectores de energía nuclear nuevos o emergentes y, a su vez, minimizar las circunstancias que … Continued

Para abolir las armas nucleares, quítenles su linda máscara

By Mustafa Kibaroglu: ES | Feb 1, 2017

La época dorada de la disuasión ha llegado a su fin. Las armas nucleares, que fueron en su momento un jugador estrella de la escena internacional, ya no disfrutan del protagonismo que tuvieron. Es cierto que algunos formuladores de políticas continúan atribuyendo a las armas nucleares el mismo prestigio del que gozaron durante la Guerra … Continued

2022 Doomsday Clock Statement

By | Jan 24, 2023

It is 100 seconds to midnight PDF / print version   Editor’s note: Founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock two years later, using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the … Continued

The politics of reduction

By Kingston Reif | May 10, 2012

One of the perks of being a Republican president in the United States is the freedom to make drastic changes to US nuclear posture while Democratic presidents are forced to travel a much tougher road, often in the pursuit of far less ambitious goals. This pattern has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War and sadly continues unabated today.

Assessing North Korea’s uranium enrichment capabilities

By Hui Zhang | Jun 18, 2009

As retaliation against tighter U.N. sanctions, on Saturday North Korea defiantly threatened to expand its nuclear arsenal and begin a program of uranium enrichment--a threat it first made in response to U.N. condemnation of its early April rocket launch. Compared to North Korea's well-known plutonium production program, the nature of Pyongyang's highly enriched uranium (HEU) program is less clear.

Nuclear scientists as assassination targets

By William Tobey | Jan 12, 2012

Since 2007, international media have reported the violent deaths of four scientists and engineers connected with Iran's nuclear program and an attempt on the life of a fifth. The news reports on such killings are murky, incomplete, and, in some instances, likely inaccurate. The motivations and identity of the persons behind the killings are also obscure, but the fact that they are taking place is undeniable.

Nuclear weapons: Not taboo enough

By Mustafa Kibaroglu | Aug 6, 2015

I wish I could argue that the world had properly absorbed the lessons of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Unfortunately, I must argue the opposite. Why? First and foremost, large numbers of people around the world believe that dropping the atomic bombs—regardless of how catastrophic the consequences were for the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—saved … Continued
antinuclear energy protest in Berlin

Nuclear fear: the irrational obstacle to real climate action

By Kerry Emanuel | Nov 15, 2021

History instructs us that electrical power can be decarbonized in less than a dozen years with combinations of renewable and nuclear energy, but exaggerated fears of the latter have made it too costly and unpopular to develop and deploy in much of the world, allowing Russia and China to capture the nuclear export market. If humanity is genuinely serious about rapid decarbonization to avoid the worse health and climate risks, it will need to take steps to rapidly improve and deploy both nuclear and renewable energy.

Nuclear power plant? Or storage dump for hot radioactive waste?

By Robert Alvarez | Aug 11, 2016

Evidence is mounting that spent high-burnup fuel poses little-studied challenges to the temporary used-fuel storage plans now in place and to any eventual arrangement for a long-term storage repository.

Nuclear battles in South Asia

By Pervez Hoodbhoy, Zia Mian | May 4, 2016

From the battlefield to mutual destruction, Pakistan and India plan and prepare for nuclear war.