Columns | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Barely lethal

Charles P. Blair — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:16:58 -0400

The June 7th arrest of actress Shannon Richardson for allegedly sending ricin-tainted letters to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama comes after two other ricin-related incidents earlier this year. In May, five letters testing positive for the toxin were mailed from Spokane, Washington, with one each bound for an Air Force base, a local judge, and the Central Intelligence Agency, and two addressed to the White House.

Pandora's false promise

Kennette Benedict — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:03:52 -0400

Pandora's Promise, a documentary film by director Robert Stone that opens in US cities on June 12th, is the story of one-time anti-nuclear power activists who now advocate using nuclear energy.

US budget cuts threaten nuclear safety

Fissile Materials Working Group — Wed, 29 May 2013 00:57:31 -0400

On May 20, the US House of Representatives approved legislation that would implement two major international nuclear security accords. The move should be cause for celebration among those fighting the spread of nuclear weapons and related materials around the world. In fact, though, the nonproliferation community is in the doldrums, as Washington is consumed by budget battles that threaten US national security.

It's smart to scale back nuclear weapons spending

Kingston Reif — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:14:02 -0400

As part of his effort to win Republican support for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in 2010, President Obama submitted to lawmakers a 10-year plan to maintain and modernize US nuclear warheads, strategic delivery systems, and their supporting infrastructure.

How do you solve a problem like plutonium?

Fissile Materials Working Group — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:09:24 -0400

Four years ago in Prague, President Barack Obama focused the world's attention on a "strange turn of history:" Even as the danger of global nuclear war has lessened, the threat we face from nuclear materials is greater than ever, because of international terrorist networks, a global black market trade, and the spread of technology that could help build a bomb.

Your money or your life?

Dawn Stover — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:25:19 -0400

When I moved to a neighborhood known as the "murder capital" of New York City, I figured it was only a matter of time before someone held a knife to my throat and demanded my wallet. I would hand it over, of course. It's only money, right? But it didn't happen like I thought it would. I left a Christmas party late one night and heard someone running behind me as I approached a subway entrance. When I whirled to look, I was struck with a heavy object. I tumbled down the staircase and scrambled to my feet -- still in possession of 30 cents and two subway tokens.

Could a nuclear-armed Iran be contained?

Kingston Reif — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:32:11 -0400

On September 4, 1962, President John F. Kennedy released a statement in response to intelligence reports of a Soviet arms buildup in Cuba. Kennedy said the United States did not have evidence "of the presence of offensive ground-to-ground missiles; or of other significant offensive capability either in Cuban hands or under Soviet direction and guidance." However, he warned, "Were it to be otherwise, the gravest issues would arise."

Who would use chemical weapons?

Laura H. Kahn — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:46:27 -0400

The combatants in Syria are pointing fingers at each other. Syrian officials claim that the rebels used chemical weapons in a March 19th attack against Khan al-Assal, a town near Aleppo; the rebels say the Syrian government was the culprit. Whichever is the case, at least 25 people died and many others were wounded in the assault. The UN has decided to investigate: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom, a former weapons monitor for the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM), to lead the investigation.

Science, art, and the legacy of Martyl

Kennette Benedict — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:27:07 -0400

Martyl Langsdorf, the artist who created the Doomsday Clock, died on March 26th at the age of 96 in Chicago. Known to many friends and fans simply as Martyl, she was a petite and vivacious woman who had an outsize influence on public consciousness about nuclear weapons through her design of the clock that first graced the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947, and continues to be used today.

Shooting down the Star Wars myth

Pavel Podvig — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:34:51 -0400

It has been 30 years since US President Ronald Reagan called for development of a missile defense system that was supposed to make nuclear weapons "impotent and obsolete." The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) launched by Reagan's famous "Star Wars" speech in March 1983 has survived to the present day, but with ever-lower expectations.

Why humans should go to Mars

Laura H. Kahn — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:29:22 -0400

Humans first emerged from Africa around 60,000 years ago in search of new lands to explore and colonize. Since then, we've spread out across much of the planet and even gone into low Earth orbit in the International Space Station. The need to explore new frontiers appears to be embedded in our DNA.

Nonproliferation in a time of austerity

Fissile Materials Working Group — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:02:00 -0400

Since the early 1990s, the nonproliferation community has obsessed over the annual appropriations to programs at the US defense, state, and energy departments that are designed to keep weapons of mass destruction (WMD) out of the wrong hands. While the budgets of individual programs have fluctuated, the unmistakable trend in US nonproliferation spending was upward. Program managers could generally count on this year's budget being higher than last year's, and next year's being higher still.

Nuclear weapons cuts will make the United States safer

Kingston Reif — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:17:56 -0500

Nuclear arms control is back in the news.

How to safeguard loose nukes

Fissile Materials Working Group — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:32:15 -0500

Four years ago, President Barack Obama called preventing nuclear terrorism a top security priority. But even though he said in his State of the Union speech last week that Washington "would continue leading the global effort to secure nuclear materials that could fall into the wrong hands," the United States is only marginally safer from that threat today than it was at the beginning of his first term.

Citizen cybersecurity

Kennette Benedict — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:24:10 -0500

With increasing reports of cyber attacks on US banks, oil facilities, power plants, and even military systems, it comes as good news that the Obama administration is crafting policy on cybersecurity. In Tuesday's State of the Union address, the President said that "America must … face the rapidly growing threat from cyber attacks," and urged Congress to pass legislation that would help it do so.

Does missile defense work?

Kingston Reif — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:51:55 -0500

After launching a rocket in December and vowing to conduct a third nuclear test, North Korea followed up last week by saying it would take measures "stronger than a nuclear test" and releasing a bizarre YouTube video that appeared to depict a rocket attacking an American city. (The video has since been removed from YouTube; excerpts and commentary can be watched here.)

Where women warriors will lead

Hugh Gusterson — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:21:23 -0500

The announcement that the Pentagon will open combat positions to women marks the third great turn toward integration and equality in the history of the US military. The first came in 1948 when President Harry Truman ordered racial desegregation of the armed forces. Thanks to Truman, we now accept a situation that was deeply troubling to some at the time: white soldiers serving under black officers. The second integrationist turn came with the decision, initiated by President Clinton and finalized under President Obama, to allow gay men and women to serve in the military.

Reality check

Dawn Stover — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:52:58 -0500

In January the World Wildlife Fund released a report asserting that Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Turkey, and the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh could meet 100 percent of their projected electricity needs in 2050 by installing solar photovoltaic power plants on less than one percent of their total land area. Which would be excellent news if all anyone needed to make electricity was land and sunshine.

Undermining Obamacare

Laura H. Kahn — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 08:43:37 -0500

Now that President Barack Obama has been reelected, his Affordable Care Act, "Obamacare," will move forward, which is good news for the health, safety, and security of the United States. But setting up Obamacare and actually providing it are two different challenges. Both will be hard.

Nuclear myths (and realities)

Kingston Reif — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:40:05 -0500

As the Obama administration contemplates further changes to US nuclear policy and posture in its second term, it will no doubt encounter opposition from those who argue that the world is too dangerous and complex to permit further reductions in US and global nuclear force levels. Critics will make many assertions in support of their case, but two claims in particular are likely to underpin their defense of the status quo.