Updated December 2024 What is a nuclear test? Nuclear tests are generally controlled explosions of nuclear devices, such as bombs or warheads. The tests are used to determine a device’s effectiveness, yield (amount of energy released during detonation) and explosive capability. There are four types of nuclear tests: Atmospheric tests occur in or above the […]
Front and Center: October 16, 2022
60TH ANNIVERSARY OF CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS Today marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a 13-day nuclear standoff between the United States and Soviet Union. While we wish the tensions felt during that crisis were now distant history, unfortunately, that is not the case. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dangerous nuclear […]
The Goldsboro B-52 Crash
In January 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress carrying two thermonuclear Mark-39 nuclear weapons experienced a fuel leak, and began to break apart mid-air over Goldsboro, North Carolina. As the pilots lost control of the aircraft, it becomes unclear exactly what happened to both bombs as multiple accounts have come to surface. It was originally thought that one […]
Russia’s Nuclear Threats Prompt Memories Of Cuban Missile Crisis
Senior Policy Director John Erath spoke with Newsy on the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis about comparisons to then and now, when tensions are as high as they were then.
Timeline: The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day nuclear crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Learn more.