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E.g., 10/07/2013
E.g., 10/07/2013
Explain This
13 September 2013
BiosecurityTechnology and Security
Middle East

How to destroy chemical weapons

Paul F. Walker

Here are the three main methods that would likely be used to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, if the Assad regime follows through on its announced desire to join the Chemical Weapons Convention.

1 September 2013
Nuclear notebook

Global nuclear weapons inventories, 1945-2013

Hans M. KristensenRobert S. Norris

The authors calculate that some 125,000 nuclear warheads have been built since 1945, about 97 percent of them by the United States and the Soviet Union and Russia.

Explain This
29 July 2013
Nuclear Energy
Americas

Nuclear plant decommissioning

Dave Lochbaum

Dave Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, explains how nuclear plants are decommissioned in the United States. 

1 July 2013
Europe/Russia
Nuclear notebook

The British nuclear stockpile, 1953–2013

Robert S. NorrisHans M. Kristensen

Recent research has revealed new facts about the British nuclear arsenal over a 25-year period starting in 1953. This accounting and the authors’ own research support an estimate that the British produced about 1,250 nuclear warheads between 1953 and 2013.

Explain This
19 June 2013
Nuclear Weapons
AmericasEurope/Russia

De-alerting nuclear forces

Hans M. KristensenMatthew McKinzie

The practice of keeping nuclear weapons on alert evolved during the Cold War, as the United States and the Soviet Union deployed fully-armed nuclear weapons that could strike the adversary before it could retaliate. 

1 May 2013
Nuclear notebook

Russian nuclear forces, 2013

Hans M. KristensenRobert S. Norris

Russia is in the middle of modernizing its nuclear forces, replacing Soviet-era ballistic missiles with fewer improved missiles. In a decade, almost all Soviet-era weapons will be gone, leaving a smaller but still effective force that will be more mobile than what it replaced.

1 March 2013
Nuclear notebook

US nuclear forces, 2013

Hans M. KristensenRobert S. Norris

As of early 2013, the United States has continued to reduce its nuclear stockpile, and retirement alone has accounted for a dip of over 250 warheads since last year. Of the total stockpile of approximately 4,650 warheads, an estimated 2,150 warheads are deployed.

1 January 2013
Nuclear notebook

Nuclear pursuits: Non-P-5 nuclear-armed states, 2013

Timothy McDonnell

In this Nuclear Notebook, guest author Timothy McDonnell reviews the five states that developed nuclear weapons outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty—India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and South Africa—and explores the milestones associated with each country’s weapons program.