-
Kazakh anti-nuclear anthem inspires activists across languages, decades
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh anti-nuclear protest song “Zaman-ai” has been inspiring activists for decades. Most recently, it was recorded and released by Japanese singer Michida Ryoko in Japanese and English last year. Nazarbayev’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016. Photo credit: Tomiaki Kurokawa. “Zaman-ai” was translated into Japanese and English in 2003 at the initiative of…
-
Trump’s Push For Lofty Nuclear Treaty Sparks Worry Over Current Deal
President Trump and his Russian counterpart have the coming year to deal with an expiring nuclear treaty that will lapse just after the end of his first term. Trump hasn’t ruled out renewing the treaty, known as New START. But he has made it clear that he would rather strike a bigger deal that includes…
-
Iran has declared that it will no longer abide by any of the restrictions imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal
Iran has declared that it will no longer abide by any of the restrictions imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal. In a statement, it said it would no longer observe limitations on its capacity for enrichment, the level of enrichment, the stock of enriched material, or research and development. The announcement followed a meeting of…
-
Around the World, Victim Assistance Comes Up Short
Current assistance programs for victims of nuclear weapons use and testing have provided compensation or other benefits to individuals in about a dozen countries around the world. Article 6 of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) requires states parties to provide assistance – “including medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support as…
-
The Human Side of Nuclear Weapons Issues
Tonight, President Trump is expected to sign the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at Joint Base Andrews, a defense budget bill totaling a stunning $738 billion. Much attention has been given to the many ways that Democrats lost out on progressive priorities in this bill. The nuclear arms control and disarmament community lost hard-fought battles…
-
The ATOM Project spends 2019 on global effort to achieve a nuclear-weapons-free world, pledges to continue efforts in 2020
The year 2019 was a difficult one for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez told a high-level UN General Assembly session that “a qualitative nuclear arms race is underway.” He also warned of rising tensions and lack of trust between nuclear-weapons nations. The internationally recognised Doomsday Clock remained in 2019 at 11:58 p.m.,…
-
How to dismantle a nuclear bomb
How do weapons inspectors verify that a nuclear bomb has been dismantled? An unsettling answer is: They don’t, for the most part. When countries sign arms reduction pacts, they do not typically grant inspectors complete access to their nuclear technologies, for fear of giving away military secrets. Instead, past U.S.-Russia arms reduction treaties have called…
-
Would terrorists set off a nuclear weapon if they had one? We shouldn’t assume so
For decades, the specter of nuclear terrorism has haunted the halls of Washington policy-making and the imagination of Western popular culture. While this was true even before September 11, 2001, in the days since, a consensus has formed from which few dare deviate: Terrorist organizations are looking to acquire nuclear weapons, and if they are…
-
Why South Africa Gave up Its Nuclear Weapons Forever
Why did South Africa decide to build nukes, how did it build them and why did it decide to give them up? The answers are largely idiosyncratic, although they may hold some lessons for the future of nuclear weapons development on the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere. Origins of Program South Africa sought nuclear weapons for…
-
Pope urges abolition of nuclear weapons during Japan visit
Pope Francis has made an impassioned appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons during a visit to Nagasaki, one of the two Japanese cities targeted by atomic bombs during World War Two. He decried the “unspeakable horror” of nuclear weapons and insisted they were “not the answer” for global peace. At least 74,000 were killed…