Published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Online on August 27, 2012 Article summary below; read the full text online. As the plausible military rationales for nuclear weapons continue to deteriorate in the aftermath of the Cold War, political and psychological rationales for nuclear weapons — like providing reassurance to US allies — are increasingly […]
Opportunity Knocks on Stockpile Reductions
In case you missed it, another voice joined the growing chorus of respected military leaders to suggest that cuts to the U.S. nuclear stockpile may be in the national interest: General Norton A. Schwartz, chief of staff of the Air Force.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A Reminder of the Importance of Arms Reductions and Nonproliferation
This month marks the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombings that brought the Second World War to an end. On August 6th, 1945, the United States dropped a 16 kiloton nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing 140,000 people and immediately burning more than four square miles of the city. Three days later, another atomic bomb with an explosive power of 21 kilotons was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 74,000 people and obliterating everything within a 1,000-yard radius. Thousands more were left homeless from the devastation and suffered radiation side effects for the rest of their lives.
Gen. Cartwright: “the retaliatory capability of 300 nuclear weapons…is catastrophic”
On July 25 the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on the appropriate size of the US nuclear weapons stockpile to maintain a credible deterrent. Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright headlined the witness panel, which also included former US Ambassador to Russia Tom Pickering and NoH favorite Keith Payne.
Update on Y-12 Security Problems
On Monday, NoH wrote about a security breach at the Y-12 nuclear production facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It turns out that was not the end of the story. Responding to the breach, the contractor in charge of the Y-12 site, Babcock and Wilcox Y-12, has ordered a week long “security stand-down,” which will stop all production work at the facility. During the stand down, all special nuclear material will be placed into vaults or vault-type facilities.
