Author: A. Stanley Thompson

Decoding Donald

by David Krieger

The future of the world and of humanity is at the mercy of a lunatic. His name is Donald Trump, and he alone has access to the U.S. nuclear codes. Before he does something rash and irreversible with those codes, it is imperative to decode Donald, taking the necessary steps to remove this power from him.

Trump is exactly the type of person who should not be anywhere near the nuclear codes. He is not calm, thoughtful, deliberate, cautious, or well-informed. Rather, he is erratic, thin-skinned, narcissistic and self-absorbed. He takes slights personally and likes to punch back hard. He could be insulted and backed into a corner, and decide that nuclear weapons are the solution to what he takes to be taunting behavior. He could be awakened at 3:00 a.m., and make a hasty decision to launch the U.S. nuclear arsenal instead of a tweet.

To read more, click here.

Women Leaders Aren’t Making Enough Foreign Policy Decisions, and it’s a Problem

by Meredith Horowski and Lillyanne Daigle

While women are leading the resistance, the halls of power in D.C. and states across the country lag pathetically behind. We saw this perhaps most vividly when Trump gathered an all-male group of politicians at the White House to discuss his efforts to gut women’s health care. In a single photograph, the gross underrepresentation of women’s voices in government and on issues directly impacting their lives was crystal clear.

And it was exactly that photograph — and the utterly out-of-sync gender dynamics it laid bare — that stuck in our minds this month as we sat in a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Trump’s unrestrained power to wage nuclear war. A committee with a 20:1 male-to-female ratio heard testimony from three men on whether one man should have total, unchecked power to start a nuclear war and blow up the planet. This is a system that, as Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) said, “boggles the rational mind.”

Apparently, the Senate has a one-woman limit when it comes to foreign policy.

To read the full article at Teen Vogue, click here.

Address to Nuclear Disarmament Conference

by Pope Francis

Nor can we fail to be genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices. If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned. For they exist in the service of a mentality of fear that affects not only the parties in conflict but the entire human race. International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms. Weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family, which must rather be inspired by an ethics of solidarity. Essential in this regard is the witness given by the Hibakusha, the survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together with other victims of nuclear arms testing. May their prophetic voice serve as a warning, above all for coming generations!

To read more, click here.

U.S. Tweeted False Information About Its Nuclear Arsenal

U.S. Strategic Command, which is in charge of all U.S. nuclear weapons, posted a link on its official Twitter account to an article falsely claiming that the U.S. maintains “secret silos” for its nuclear warheads, and has “B-1 bombers that can drop them from the air.”

Experts immediately criticized the tweet, since the U.S. does not have secret silos, and B-1 bombers are not nuclear-capable. Tweeting out the article only increases the chance of miscalculation between North Korea and the United States while tensions between the two nuclear powers are already sky-high.

Alex Ward, “The U.S. Military Tweeted Out Bad Information About Its Nukes. North Korea Will Notice,” Vox, November 15, 2017.

University of Texas Seeks to Manage U.S. Nuclear Weapons Lab

The University of Texas (UT) Board of Regents voted 3-2 to submit a bid to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one of the United States’ two primary nuclear weapons labs. UT submitted an unsuccessful bid to run the lab in 2005.

LANL has a history of nuclear weapon research and design dating back to the Manhattan Project in the 1940s.

The lab is currently run by the University of California in a for-profit partnership with Bechtel National, Inc. The University of California has managed the nation’s nuclear weapons labs in New Mexico and California since the labs’ inception.

Alyssa Goard, “UT System Will Submit Bid to Operate Los Alamos National Laboratory,” KXAN, November 27, 2017.

ICAN to Accept Nobel Peace Prize on December 10

Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and a tireless campaigner for the abolition of nuclear weapons, will accept the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the global campaign in Oslo on December 10. At least two other survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings are expected to attend.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has been a Partner Organization in ICAN since its inception in 2007. Setsuko Thurlow is the recipient of NAPF’s 2015 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award and serves on the NAPF Advisory Council.

“Three A-bomb survivors to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December,” Kyodo, October 27, 2017.

Mexico Ratifies Nuclear Ban Treaty

Mexico is the fourth country to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, as its Senate voted unanimously to approve Mexico’s participation in the treaty. Prohibitions in the treaty include developing, acquiring, storing, using or threatening to use any atomic explosive device or nuclear weapon of any kind.

Fernando Torres Graciano, president of the National Defense Commission, encouraged other countries to ratify the treaty as well. He said, “Instead of resistance to nuclear disarmament, governments should promote programs to address the most important problems in the world, such as poverty and hunger.”

In order for the treaty to enter into force, 50 countries must ratify the treaty.

“Mexico’s Senate Approved the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” Puerto Vallarta News, November 28, 2017.

South Korea Wants to Cancel Military Drills During Winter Olympics

Song Young-gil, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation, said that the South Korean government wants to stop joint military drills with the United States during the upcoming PyeongChang Olympic Games.

“The first step toward alleviating tensions is North Korea’s abandoning of its programs and the U.S. and its allies scaling down of joint military drills, simultaneously,” said Igor Morgulov, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Olympics have long been associated with peace or at least a temporary cessation of hostilities. In 776 BC, a truce was announced before the Olympic games to ensure that the host city was not attacked and that spectators and athletes could attend safely.

Nam Hyun-woo, “Government Wants to Delay Korea-U.S. Military Drills,” The Korea Times, November 27, 2017.

Russia Admits Significant Radioactive Leak

Authorities detected a radioactive cloud over Europe between September 27 and October 13. After months of denying anything outside the normal levels of radiation, Russian officials admitted that there was a leak of ruthenium-106 in the southern Urals in September. Levels reached 986 times the normal pollution of the element just south of the Mayak facility, where in 1957 an explosion caused the third-most detrimental radioactive accident in history (the first two being Chernobyl and Fukushima.) It affected 227,000 people, exposing them to lethal amounts of radiation. Many accidents have happened at the facility since its opening in 1948.

The French nuclear safety institute (IRSN) said that such an event in France would have resulted in several kilometers of evacuation.

Mark Bennets, “Russia Admits Nuclear Leak Near Site of 1957 Disaster,” The Times, November 21, 2017.

U.S. and Russia Engaged in a Costly New Nuclear Arms Race

In 2010, the Obama administration negotiated the New START treaty with Russia, which limited both sides’ deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550. Despite both countries being on track to meeting the limit by the 2018 deadline, experts and former officials say that the risk of nuclear conflict is far from eliminated. In fact, the stricter limitation on the number of weapons allowed has only spurred both countries to initiate modernization programs to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and lethality of their weapons systems.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the U.S. “modernization” effort will cost $1.25 trillion over 30 years. Supporters of the program argue that it consists primarily of tweaks and improvements, not development of new weapons or capabilities. Critics suggest that the new improvements are so substantial that they will reshape U.S. nuclear capability, making the use of nuclear weapons more tempting. They also point to Russia’s parallel modernization as evidence of a dangerous new arms race.

Scot Paltrow, “Special Report: in Modernizing Nuclear Arsenal, U.S. Stokes New Arms Race“, U.S. News & World Report, November 21, 2017.

U.S. Seeks to Violate INF Treaty as Revenge for Russia Violating the INF Treaty

The Obama administration suspected for years, and later confirmed, that Russia built a missile in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Signed by President Ronald Reagan, the bilateral U.S.-Russian pact prohibits construction, testing or deployment of missiles or delivery systems with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.

The Trump administration is now supporting Congressional efforts to also violate the INF Treaty by building a cruise missile in the prohibited range.

“It would be a mistake to believe that the pursuit of a INF-noncompliant cruise missile by the United States will compel Russia to acknowledge and rectify its suspected INF violations,” said Arms Control Association Executive Director Daryl Kimball.

Josh Rogin, “Russia Has Deployed a Banned Nuclear Missile. Now the U.S. Threatens to Build One,” Washington Post, November 16, 2017.

This Month in Nuclear Threat History

History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the threats that have taken place in the month of December, including the December 18, 1970 U.S. nuclear weapon test in Nevada, which resulted in a significant release of radioactive material into the environment.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.

The Doomsday Machine: New Book by NAPF Distinguished Fellow Daniel Ellsberg

The Doomsday Machine, a new book by NAPF Fellow Daniel Ellsberg, is now available for pre-order. It will be released on December 5. Ellsberg, the legendary whistleblower who revealed the Pentagon Papers, was a presidential advisor and nuclear strategist. The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg’s hair-raising account of the most dangerous arms build-up in the history of civilization, whose legacy – and proposed renewal under the Trump administration – threatens the very survival of humanity.

To pre-order the book from Amazon, click here.

To read a review by NAPF intern Joy Ferguson, a senior at Westmont College, click here.

Cybersecurity, Nuclear Security, Alan Turing, and Illogical Logic

NAPF Associate Martin Hellman received the 2015 Association for Computing Machinery Turing Award for his work on cryptography. In his lecture accepting the prestigious award, Hellman makes a strong connection between cybersecurity and nuclear security.

In examining the risk involved with nuclear weapons, Hellman said, “To put such risk in perspective, even if nuclear deterrence could be expected to work for 500 years before it failed and destroyed civilization—a time horizon that sounds optimistic to most people—it would be equivalent to playing Russian roulette with the life of a child born today. That is because that child’s expected lifetime is roughly one-sixth of 500 years. If the time horizon is more like 100 years, the child’s odds are worse than 50/50.”

To read Hellman’s full lecture, click here.

Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases

On January 12-14, 2018, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is co-sponsoring a conference in Baltimore about the hundreds of U.S. military bases around the world. The unity statement that is the basis for the conference states that “U.S. foreign military bases are the principal instruments of imperial global domination and environmental damage through wars of aggression and occupation, and that the closure of U.S. foreign military bases is one of the first necessary steps toward a just, peaceful and sustainable world.”

For more information and to register to attend, click here.

The Dome

The program Foreign Correspondent on Australia’s ABC TV has produced a new documentary entitled “The Dome.” The program examines the toxic legacy of the Runit Dome, an 18-inch-thick concrete dome constructed by the United States in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The dome contains highly-toxic waste from many of the United States’ 67 nuclear weapons tests conducted in the Marshall Islands from 1946-58.

The concrete dome, which was intended to last for hundreds of years, is already cracked and leaking. Rising sea levels and the increased intensity of storms due to climate change threaten an even greater catastrophe.

To watch the 41-minute documentary, click here.

Create Your Own Facebook Fundraiser to Benefit NAPF this Holiday Season

NAPF intern Aidan Powers-Riggs, a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has made a video for NAPF supporters explaining how to create a fundraiser to benefit NAPF from one’s personal Facebook page.

Aidan walks viewers through each step in the simple process. This is a great way for individuals to support the important work of NAPF while sharing their passion for peace and nuclear disarmament with their Facebook community.

To watch the 3-minute video, click here.

Letter in the Los Angeles Times

On November 24, the Los Angeles Times published a letter to the editor by NAPF Director of Programs Rick Wayman. Rick’s letter was in response to an editorial opposing the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017” introduced in Congress by Rep. Ted Lieu and Sen. Ed Markey. The LA Times editors argued that it is vital for President Trump to retain the unilateral authority to use nuclear weapons first against an adversary.

Wayman wrote in part, “Deterrence will only work up until the moment that it fails. Once it fails, we will only have a moment to regret not taking action when we had the chance.”

To read the full letter, click here.

Peace Literacy and Rotary International

On November 10, 2017, Paul K. Chappell, NAPF Peace Leadership Director, spoke about peace literacy and our shared humanity to over 500 former, current, and future Rotary district governors from six states and Vancouver Island at the Rotary International Institute, Zones 25/26. This represented a new level of interaction between NAPF and one of the world’s largest service organizations with a background of almost 100 years of peace projects and initiatives.

Recommended by a Rotarian with strong ties to the Dayton International Peace Museum, Chappell began his journey with Rotary in April 2015 with his talk on “Why Peace Is Possible,” at the Southwestern Ohio Rotary District 6670 conference. The event generated comments such as, “He [Paul] presents a unique view on peace that makes you really start to think,” “Very practical approach in presentation,” and “I was changed. I went in thinking that peace was impossible. Left thinking that there is a way to spread peace. Slow and steady, like curing polio.”

To read more about Paul’s involvement with Rotary International, click here.

Rick Wayman Participates in Vatican Nuclear Disarmament Conference

NAPF’s Director of Programs Rick Wayman was invited to participate in the Vatican’s November 10-11 conference “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament.” On the first day of the conference, Rick had the honor of hearing Pope Francis deliver an address on nuclear disarmament (see Perspectives, above) and to personally exchange greetings with the pontiff.

For those in the Santa Barbara area, Rick will report back on the Vatican trip at a meeting at the NAPF headquarters on December 6 at 2:00 pm. For more information and to RSVP, please contact us at (805) 965-3443.

New Nukes Are Nuts Merchandise

Just in time for the holiday season, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has some new “Nukes Are Nuts” merchandise in stock and ready to ship. We have t-shirts for adults, onesies for babies, and reusable organic cotton tote bags for everyone.

Be sure to check out the NAPF Peace Store for these and many other great gifts, including books on peace.

For shipping outside of the United States, please contact rwayman@napf.org for a specific quote.

No Unconstitutional Strike Against North Korea

A bill in the House of Representatives seeks to stop an unconstitutional attack against North Korea. The bill, H.R. 4140, would prohibit the president from launching a first strike against North Korea without congressional approval. The bill also calls on the president to “initiate negotiations designed to achieve a diplomatic agreement to halt and eventually reverse North Korea’s nuclear and missile pursuits.”

The bill currently has 61 co-sponsors, and more are urgently needed. Click here to take action.

“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.”

— Buddha. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action. Order copies today in the NAPF Peace Store for holiday gifts to the peace lovers in your life.

“They like their nuclear weapons very much and don’t like it when we try to ban them.”

— Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, speaking about the protest of the U.S., UK, and France, which are sending only low-level diplomats to the December 10 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

“We urge you to reject calls to develop new low-yield [nuclear] weapons or to increase nuclear delivery systems beyond those already planned, which are simply divorced from budgetary realities.”

— A letter to Secretaries Tillerson, Mattis, and Perry from 15 U.S. senators.

Joy Ferguson
David Krieger
Aidan Powers-Riggs
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

Nobel Peace Prize for ICAN’s Nuclear Weapon Ban Is Spot On

by David Krieger

The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize does not go to a politician or political leader. In fact, it does not single out any individual. Rather, it goes to a campaign, the International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), composed of more than 450 civil society organizations in some 100 countries around the globe. It goes to a broad base of civil society organizations working in coalition to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.

In this sense, the award goes to the extraordinary people (“We, the People…”) throughout the world who have stepped up to end the threat to all humanity posed by the nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons still remaining on the planet.

To read the full article at The Hill, click here.

The Nuclear Dreams of President Donald Trump: Nightmares Past and Present

by Rebecca Gordon

Preventing a nuclear war between the United States and North Korea may be the most pressing challenge facing the world right now.

Our childish, ignorant, and incompetent president is shoving all of us — especially the people of Asia — ever nearer to catastrophe. While North Korea probably hasn’t yet developed the missiles to deliver a nuclear warhead to the U.S. mainland, it certainly has the capacity to reach closer targets, including South Korea and Japan.

But what can ordinary people do about it? Our fingers are far removed from the levers of power, while the tiny digits of the man occupying the “adult day care center” we call the White House hover dangerously close to what people my age used to call “the Button.” Nevertheless, I think there may still be time to put our collective foot on the brakes, beginning with the promise of a bill currently languishing in Congress.

To read more, click here.

Rethinking the Three Rs

by Brooke Takala

Until quite recently, ‘the 3 Rs’ simply meant reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic. One could very well get by with basic competencies in literacy and math.

The shift we see through acceptance of a total and legally binding ban on nuclear weapons is, at its core, an ideological and philosophical one. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is a milestone in the ongoing reframing of global security concepts. While some may see the ban treaty as a stand against nuclear weapons states, we can also understand the action as taking a stand for peace by legally de-legitimizing weapons of mass destruction.

However, reframing is directly linked to access to knowledge. The less we know, the less we question what is acceptable. The more we know the more action we are likely to take when the human consequences of the nuclear cycle are recognized. Hence, the 3 Rs of Human Security embedded in the nuclear ban treaty: Recognition, Restitution, and Remediation.

To read more, click here.

NATO Nuclear Weapons Exercises Take Place in Europe

On October 16, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began its annual nuclear weapons exercises. The “Steadfast Noon” exercises took place at two bases where the United States deploys nuclear weapons: Kleine Brogel in Belgium and Büchel in Germany.

The U.S. currently deploys approximately 180 nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

Julian E. Barnes, “NATO Launches Its Main Nuclear Drill, Showcasing Its Defenses,” Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2017.

Vice President Visits Nuclear Weapons Base

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota on October 27, telling the airmen to “stay sharp” and “be ready” in the face of what he called an increasing threat from North Korea. Minot AFB hosts 26 B-52 nuclear-armed bomber aircraft and commands 150 Minuteman III nuclear-armed Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

The U.S. nuclear weapons at Minot AFB alone are capable of indiscriminately killing hundreds of millions of people. Despite this, Pence said, “There’s no greater element of American strength, there’s no greater force for peace in the world than the United States nuclear arsenal.”

Julia Manchester, “Pence to Military on North Korea: ‘Be Ready’,” The Hill, October 28, 2017.

Setsuko Thurlow, Hiroshima Survivor and NAPF Advisor, to Jointly Accept Nobel Peace Prize

Setsuko Thurlow, who was 13 years old when she survived the United States’ atomic bombing of Hiroshima, will jointly accept the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 with Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Thurlow said, “Survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are living witnesses to the horror of nuclear war. They have played a central role in ICAN. World leaders must heed their call for a nuclear-weapon-free future.”

Setsuko Thurlow has dedicated her life to campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weapons. In 2015, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation gave her its Distinguished Peace Leadership Award, and she has continued her involvement with NAPF as a member of the Advisory Council.

“Atomic Bomb Survivor to Jointly Accept Nobel Peace Prize on ICAN’s Behalf,” International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, October 26, 2017.

Nobel Foundation Stops Investing in Nuclear Weapon Producers

Just weeks after awarding the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the Nobel Foundation has announced that it is implementing a policy to no longer invest in companies that are involved in the production of nuclear weapons.

“One can discuss that we should have done that earlier, but we sharpened our standards in March and we are now following through with it,” said Nobel Foundation director Lars Heikensten. “At the latest, by March next year we will have no investment in anything that is connected with any kind of production which is classified as connected with nuclear weapons,” he said.

“Nobel Prize Money Will No Longer be ‘Invested” in Nuclear Weapons,” Agence France Presse, October 27, 2017.

President Trump Refuses to Certify Iran’s Compliance with Nuclear Deal

U.S. President Donald Trump refused to certify that Iran is acting in compliance with its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran Nuclear Deal. Congress requires that the U.S. President certify Iran’s compliance every 90 days. By refusing to certify, Trump has set the stage for Congress to re-impose economic sanctions against Iran, which would put the U.S. in violation of the deal.

“President Trump’s rejection of the JCPOA is an incitement to proliferation, makes achieving further agreements to rein in the nuclear threat more difficult, and increases global risk of nuclear use,” the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) said in a statement.

“Nobel Peace Laureates Denounce Trump’s Iran Move,” Agence France Presse, October 13, 2017.

Trump to Visit Asia in Early November

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit several Asian countries in early November. He is scheduled to visit China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea over a one-week period. President Trump has chosen not to visit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

The U.S. has continued to prepare for war with North Korea. According to Christine Ahn, Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ, “The U.S. has sent three nuclear aircraft carriers to be docked on the Korean Peninsula. They have been conducting very provocative joint war exercises with South Korea, including Navy SEALs that took out Osama bin Laden. They do include the decapitation strikes. And so, it’s one thing to say, ‘We don’t want war with North Korea,’ and another to actually be laying the grounds for that.”

“Trump Admin Continues Threats and Provocations Against North Korea, Laying Groundwork for Nuclear War,” Democracy Now, October 30, 2017.

British Nuclear Submarine Crew Members Fired After Cocaine-Fueled Parties

Numerous sailors from the British Royal Navy’s nuclear-armed submarine HMS Vigilant have been fired after testing positive for cocaine. While the submarine was docked in Kings Bay, Georgia, to pick up nuclear weapons, sailors reportedly had out-of-control parties at a local hotel.

The incident occurred in September at a time of heightened nuclear tensions, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened at the United Nations to “totally destroy” North Korea, and Kim Jong-un called Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” who will “pay dearly” for his UN speech.

Cleve R. Wootson Jr., “Nuclear Sub Sailors Fired After ‘Absolutely Disgraceful’ Parties with a Prostitute and Cocaine,” Washington Post, October 28, 2017.

Head of Nuclear Safety Agency Urges Trump to Abolish It

Sean Sullivan, chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), told the director of the Office of Management and Budget in a private letter that closing or shrinking the panel he chairs is consistent with President Trump’s ambition to cut the size of the federal workforce. DNFSB, chartered by Congress, has helped persuade the federal government to impose tighter safety rules and regulations at most of the eight nuclear weapons sites — employing more than 40,000 workers — where nuclear weapons and their parts are produced or stored.

Patrick Malone, “GOP Chair of Nuclear Safety Agency Secretly Urges Trump to Abolish It,” Center for Public Integrity, October 19, 2017.

Congressional Budget Office Increases U.S. “Modernization” Cost Estimate

On October 31, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a report that increases the estimated 30-year cost of “modernizing” the U.S. nuclear arsenal and production facilities to $1.24 trillion. The CBO report examines some options to eliminate some of the costs or delay them.

This estimate is $242 billion higher than the already-outrageous $1 trillion figure that has been widely cited since the Obama administration began its plans for a 30-year nuclear weapons spending binge.

“Approaches for Managing the Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2017 to 2046,” Congressional Budget Office, October 31, 2017.

Video Shows Illegal Dumping of Toxic Liquid at Hanford

Video taken in August 2017 shows contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington State illegally dumping rainwater from large metal containers containing radioactive waste. Hanford, which is the most contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere, was used primarily to produce plutonium for U.S. nuclear weapons from the mid-1940s to the mid-1980s.

The workers dumping this liquid were employed by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), a private contractor managing tens of millions of gallons of highly-radioactive waste at Hanford. WRPS officials have denied that they did anything wrong. However, state Representative Gerry Pollet said, “Of course it’s illegal to dump any liquid waste. This is the kind of thing that caused Hanford to be the most contaminated place in the Western Hemisphere in the first place. I am shocked to see something like this in 2017. It’s outrageous.”

Despite the United States’ inability to properly deal with the huge amount of radioactive waste it has created through decades of past nuclear weapons development, the Trump administration has indicated that it favors renewed production of nuclear weapons and components.

Susannah Frame, “Video Shows Illegal Dumping of Toxic Liquids at Hanford,” KING 5, October 27, 2017.

This Month in Nuclear Threat History

History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the threats that have taken place in the month of November, including the November 28, 1993 arrest of a group of Russians who attempted to sell 4.5 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium to undercover buyers.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.

The Doomsday Machine: New Book by NAPF Distinguished Fellow Daniel Ellsberg

The Doomsday Machine, a new book by NAPF Fellow Daniel Ellsberg, is now available for pre-order. It will be released on December 5. Ellsberg, the legendary whistleblower who revealed the Pentagon Papers, was a presidential advisor and nuclear strategist. The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg’s hair-raising account of the most dangerous arms build-up in the history of civilization, whose legacy – and proposed renewal under the Trump administration – threatens the very survival of humanity.

To pre-order the book from Amazon, click here.

Study War No More

Join the Global Campaign for Peace Education and World Beyond War in this timely discussion on “Debunking the Myths of War” by participating in discussion 3 of the online study guide Study War No More. This discussion features an introductory video by Study and Action Partner Paul K. Chappell, the Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

The goals and objectives of this discussion are to identify, reflect and analyze assumptions of war, violence and conflict.

Study War No More provides guided inquiries and suggests practical actions for students and citizens to understand the nature of “the war system” and the possibilities for its transformation to an authentic “global security system” pursued via peaceful means.

Click here to learn more and participate.

Sleepwalking to Armageddon

A new book edited by Dr. Helen Caldicott, Sleepwalking to Armageddon, is now available. For this book, Dr. Caldicott assembled some of the world’s leading nuclear scientists and thought leaders to assess the scientific and political dimensions of the threat of nuclear war today. NAPF President David Krieger wrote a chapter for the book. It also includes a chapter by NAPF Advisory Council member Noam Chomsky.

Click here to order a copy of the book.

NAPF Brings Message of Peace to Middle School

NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell has partnered with the Santa Barbara Middle School for a six-month peace education effort. The partnership is part of NAPF’s newly-launched Peace Literacy Initiative, in which Chappell worked with a team of educators around the United States and Canada to develop free curriculum for grades 4-12 and college.

Whitney Ingersoll, director of admission at Santa Barbara Middle School, said, “He speaks from the heart, and his message speaks to archetypal mindsets of what it means to be human. He clearly explained how we can better understand ourselves and others, in order to communicate and live more peacefully, inside and out.”

Over the next few months, Paul will conduct workshops with students, teachers, and parents at the school. The school’s intent is to foster a more peaceful and compassionate way to be in the world within oneself, at home, and as a school community.

To read more about this initiative, click here.

Evening for Peace: A Prescription for a Nuclear-Free World

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 34th Annual Evening for Peace took place on October 22, in Santa Barbara, California. The theme of this year’s event was “A Prescription for a Nuclear-Free World.” The Foundation honored Dr. Ira Helfand and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War with its Distinguished Peace Leadership Award.

Audio and video of Dr. Helfand’s chilling and inspiring acceptance speech are available here to download from our Evening for Peace page. A written transcript and photos will be available soon.

Rick Wayman to Participate in Vatican Nuclear Disarmament Conference

Rick Wayman, NAPF’s Director of Programs, will participate in a nuclear disarmament conference at the Vatican on November 10-11. The conference, entitled “Perspectives for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament,” will feature an audience with Pope Francis, as well as talks by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and many Nobel Peace Laureates.

Information on conference outcomes will be published in the December issue of The Sunflower.

New Peace Poetry Book Now Available

Portraits: Peacemakers, Warmongers and People Between is a new book of original peace poetry by NAPF President David Krieger. Commenting on the new book, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “Poetry that awakens our deepest humanity. Each poem leaves me wanting another.”

To order a copy of this new book, click here.

Cards for Humanity

S.200, a bill currently before the senate, calls for restrictions on the President’s ability to use nuclear weapons first.

Buy a $1 postcard as part of our Cards for Humanity campaign and we will send it to the Senator of your choice. We’ll sign your name on the postcard, stamp it, and mail it to your Senator’s office in DC.

Click here to view the postcard and choose your Senators.

Sign the People’s Peace Treaty with North Korea

Alarmed by the threat of a nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea, concerned U.S. peace groups, including the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, have come together to send an open message to Washington and Pyongyang that we are strongly opposed to any resumption of the horrific Korean War. What we want is a peace treaty to finally end the lingering Korean War!

Inspired by the Vietnam-era People’s Peace Treaty, we have initiated a People’s Peace Treaty with North Korea, to raise awareness about the past U.S. policy toward North Korea, and to send a clear message that we, the people of the U.S., do not want another war with North Korea. This is not an actual treaty, but rather a declaration of peace from the people of the United States.

To read the full text and add your name, click here.

“Nuclear disarmament is not an option for governments to take up or ignore. It is a moral duty owed by them to their own citizens, and to humanity as a whole. We must not await another Hiroshima or Nagasaki before finally mustering the political will to banish these weapons from global arsenals.”

— Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action. The revised 4th edition of this book has just been published. Order copies today in the NAPF Peace Store at a 25% discount.

“I refuse to have an enemy.”

— Sister Ardeth Platte, a Dominican nun who, together with Sr. Carol Gilbert, returned to a Minuteman III ICBM silo, 15 years after their arrest there, to deliver a copy of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

“So maybe we make a drastic change. We go back to [nuclear] testing.”

— Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, suggesting that the United States resume full-scale nuclear weapons testing.

“Some issues are not about left and right, Republican and Democrat – they’re about our deepest moral values. And we believe that you have to have a campaign, a movement, that seeks to reshape the moral narrative.”

— Rev. Dr. William Barber, a leader of the new Poor People’s Campaign, a non-violent movement to end systemic racism, poverty, militarism, environmental destruction and related injustices, and to build a just, sustainable and participatory society.

David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

The Reality of the Nuclear Age

by David Krieger

Anyone with a modicum of sense does not want to see the U.S. teeter at the brink of war with North Korea and certainly not inadvertently stumble over that brink, or intentionally jump. The first Korean War in the 1950s was costly in terms of lives and treasure. A second Korean War, with the possibility of nuclear weapons use, would be far more costly to both sides, and could lead to global nuclear conflagration.

Neither North Korea nor South Korea want a new war, but U.S. leadership in Washington is threatening war, with remarks such as “talking is not the answer”; North Korean threats “will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen”; “military solutions are now in place, locked and loaded”; and “all options are on the table.” Such posturing has only elicited more nuclear and missile tests from North Korea.

To read more, click here.

Letter to UN Secretary-General

by Women Cross DMZ

In his first General Assembly address, President Trump threatened “to totally destroy North Korea” if the United States or its allies were attacked. As the world’s greatest military power, the United States is the only nation ever to use atomic bombs against a civilian population that annihilated a quarter million people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We call on you, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to counsel in the strongest of terms, the President of the United States and its Ambassador to the UN, that threats to destroy another country are unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the community of nations.

We must work to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide, including in India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and among all Permanent Members of the Security Council. We oppose North Korea’s increased militarization, including testing missiles and nuclear weapons, and threats to retaliate against the United States, its allies, and its territories where significant U.S. military bases are located. However, we understand North Korea’s fears of a U.S. pre-emptive strike. There is still no Peace Treaty ending the Korean War, during which the United States carpet-bombed 85 percent of North Korea. From 1950-53, four million people were killed, including a quarter of the North Korean population.

To read more, click here.

The North Korea Standoff Is Now as Bad as the Cuban Missile Crisis

by Daryl Kimball

The nuclear danger posed by North Korea is not new. For more than a decade, the Kim regime has possessed nuclear weapons and has been steadily pursuing the capability to develop compact warheads and longer-range missile systems.

But since the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, a bad situation has become far worse. North Korea has accelerated its missile testing and Trump has vowed a military attack against North Korea if it threatens the U.S. or its allies.

The risk of conflict through miscalculation by either side is now as severe as the tense days of October 1962, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union nearly went to war over the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Just as was the case in 1962, even a small action or wrong word could lead to war.

To read more, click here.

New Nuclear Posture Review Faces Delays

A self-imposed deadline of December 2017 is likely to be missed as staffing shortages at the State Department and Pentagon slow down work on the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza said that the NPR “will guide modernization efforts and establish U.S. nuclear deterrence policy, strategy, and posture for the next 5-10 years.” As part of the review, the Trump administration is also considering smaller, more tactical nuclear weapons that would cause less destruction than the current U.S. stockpile.

Paul McLeary, “With Pentagon, State Positions Vacant, Trump Nuclear Review Slows Down,” Foreign Policy, September 15, 2017.

Trump Threatens to Totally Destroy North Korea

On September 19 in a speech at the United Nations, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, a UN member state with a population of 25 million. He said, “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter states, “All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”

Jon Schwarz, “Donald Trump Used the United Nations to Threaten a Massive Violation of International Law,” The Intercept, September 20, 2017.

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Opens for Signature

On September 20, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons opened for signature at the United Nations in New York. Fifty nations signed the treaty on the first day. Many more are expected to sign in the coming weeks.

The treaty prohibits nations from “undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons,” according to a U.N. press release.

James Dearie, “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Opens for Signature,” National Catholic Reporter, September 26, 2017.

First U.S. Bank Announces Policy Against Funding Nuclear Weapons

On September 20, New York-based Amalgamated Bank made an official statement against investing in nuclear weapons production. It is the first U.S. bank to do so, and the statement was the bank’s first public announcement on investment policy regarding weapons of any kind. The announcement coincided with the signing ceremony at the UN for the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

“First U.S. Bank Announces Public Position Against Nuclear Weapons,” ICAN, September 21, 2017.

How Many People Would Die in a War with North Korea?

House Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) have asked Defense Secretary James Mattis for estimated casualty totals in the event of war with North Korea. In the wake of the North Korean foreign minister’s statement that President Trump has made a “declaration of war,” the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees want to check the President’s unilateral dealings with North Korea, and have these casualty counts included in their briefings on the situation.

Congressman Lieu writes, “To be clear, we believe it is wrong to use military force without first exhausting all other options, including diplomacy. We also believe it would be unconstitutional for the administration to start a war with North Korea without congressional authorization.”

Defense Secretary James Mattis has said that war with North Korea would be “catastrophic” and that he has looked at military options that he claims would not put Seoul at risk.

Rebecca Kheel, “Dems Ask Mattis: How Many People Would Die in War with North Korea?” The Hill, September 26, 2017.

“The Man Who Saved the World” Dies at 77

On May 19, Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet lieutenant colonel for the Air Defense Forces during the Cold War, died at age 77 at his home in a suburb of Moscow. Petrov was the key actor in preventing the outbreak of an all-out nuclear war between the U.S. and USSR in 1983, when a Soviet system incorrectly signaled that the U.S. had launched 5 nuclear-armed ICBMs towards the Soviet Union.

Petrov’s job was to monitor this system and send the message up the chain of command if an attack was impending. However, when the system alarms went off on September 26, 1983, he correctly suspected it was a system malfunction and did not relay the message up the command chain. Had Petrov not had the composure and intuition to check for malfunctioning software, it is likely that this false alarm would have led to a Soviet counter-attack on the U.S., and ultimately to nuclear war.

Greg Myre, “Stanislav Petrov, ‘The Man Who Saved The World,’ Dies At 77,” NPR, September 18, 2017.

U.S. Navy Awards $5.1 Billion Contract for New Nuclear-Armed Submarine Development

The U.S. Navy has awarded a $5.1 billion contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat. The contract is for the design, completion, component and technology development and prototyping efforts for the Columbia Class Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs).  The work will also include United Kingdom unique efforts related to the Common Missile Compartment.

The U.S. plans to build 12 new Columbia-Class Submarines, each with 16 missile tubes, and the UK plans to build four nuclear-armed ballistic submarines, each with 12 missile tubes.

The nuclear-armed submarines are expected to remain in service through at least the 2070s.

“Navy $5 Billion Deal Builds New Nuclear-Armed Columbia-Class Sub,” Scout, September 21, 2017.

This Month in Nuclear Threat History

History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the threats that have taken place in the month of October, including the October 6, 1986 sinking of the Soviet K-219 nuclear-armed submarine in the Atlantic Ocean.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.

SIPRI Yearbook Published

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a leading independent research institute on conflict, arms control and disarmament, has published its 2017 yearbook.

According to SIPRI, global inventories of nuclear weapons continue to decline in number due to reductions made by the U.S. and Russia. However, “both the USA and Russia have extensive and expensive programs under way to replace and modernize their nuclear warheads, missile and aircraft delivery systems, and nuclear weapon production facilities,” and China, India, North Korea and Pakistan are thought to be expanding the size of their nuclear arsenals. In addition, SIPRI reports that there is inadequate transparency in the reporting of nuclear arsenal size and capability from most nuclear states, particularly Russia, China, North Korea, India, and Pakistan.

For more information on this year’s SIPRI report, click here.

Britain’s H-Bomb Tests in the Pacific

Grappling with the Bomb is a history of Britain’s 1950s program to test the hydrogen bomb, code name Operation Grapple. In 1957–58, nine atmospheric nuclear tests were held at Malden Island and Christmas Island in the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony — today, part of the Pacific nation of Kiribati.

Nearly 14,000 British troops travelled to the central Pacific for Operation Grapple. They were joined by hundreds of New Zealand sailors, Gilbertese laborers and Fijian troops. Today, decades later, survivors suffer from serious illnesses they attribute to exposure to hazardous levels of ionizing radiation.

On the 60th anniversary of the tests, Nic Maclellan’s book details regional opposition to Britain’s testing program in the 1950s, with protests from Fiji, Cook Islands, Western Samoa, Japan and other nations.

You can purchase a copy or download a free e-book from the ANU Press website.

A Teacher’s Guide to Peace Literacy

Peace literacy is an idea created by NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell, a West Point graduate, former Army captain, and Iraq war veteran who grew up in a violent household and struggled with trauma throughout his school years. Realizing that humanity is facing new challenges that require us to become as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war, he created peace literacy to help students and adults from various backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world.

Peace literacy frames peace not merely as a goal, but as a practical skill-set that allows us to increase realistic peace in our lives, communities, nations, and the world. Peace literacy also helps us fully develop our human capacity for empathy, conscience, and reason.

To read more about this movement, click here.

Evening for Peace: A Prescription for a Nuclear-Free World

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 34th Annual Evening for Peace will take place on Sunday, October 22, in Santa Barbara, California. The theme of this year’s event is “A Prescription for a Nuclear-Free World.” The Foundation will honor Dr. Ira Helfand and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War with its Distinguished Peace Leadership Award.

For more information, including sponsorship opportunities and tickets, click here.

NAPF Invited to Participate in Vatican Nuclear Disarmament Conference

Rick Wayman, NAPF’s Director of Programs, will participate in a nuclear disarmament conference at the Vatican on November 10-11. The conference, entitled “Perspectives for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament,” will feature an audience with Pope Francis, as well as talks by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and many Nobel Peace Laureates.

More information will be published in the December issue of The Sunflower. This trip would not be possible without the generous support of our worldwide NAPF family. To support the costs of this important opportunity, click here.

Poetry Contest Winners Announced

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has announced the winners of its 2017 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards. Nearly 200 people entered the contest, submitting original poems illuminating their positive visions of peace.

The winning poem in the adult category is entitled “Manchester,” by Nicole Melanson. To read all of the winning poems, click here. For more information about the contest, click here.

No Money for New Nuclear Weapons or Testing

The United States detonated 1,032 nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, under the ocean, and underground between 1945 and 1992 that devastated local communities. Though the U.S. has not conducted a full-scale underground nuclear test in 25 years, resurgent nuclear threats are gaining intensity in the Trump administration. Neocons, nuclear lab managers, and others are urging Trump to hit the accelerator on new nuclear warheads and the underground explosions needed to test them.

Public pressure from ordinary Americans was essential in halting explosive U.S. nuclear testing in the atmosphere and underground 25 years ago. We must act now to halt funding for a new arms race.

Join us as we urge White House Budget Office Director, Mick Mulvaney, and the Armed Services and Appropriations Committees of the U.S. Congress not to fund programs that may lead to resumption of nuclear test explosions or new nuclear weapons. Click here to take action.

Prevent the First Use of Nuclear Weapons

At the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, we are working tirelessly not only for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, but also in the meantime to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used. The humanitarian consequences of any nuclear weapons use would be unacceptable. The conflict between the United States and North Korea gives new urgency to bills currently in the House and Senate.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have introduced bills in the House and Senate to reduce the likelihood of the United States using nuclear weapons first in a conflict. The bills would prohibit the President of the United States from launching a nuclear first strike without an explicit declaration by Congress.

Of course, we believe strongly that nuclear weapons should never be used under any circumstances. This bill would not legislate that, but it would make it much more difficult for the President to use nuclear weapons, which we believe is a move in the right direction.

Please write your Representative and Senators today and ask them to sign on to H.R. 669 in the House or S.200 in the Senate. Click here to take action.

“There is no time left for anything but to make peacework a dimension of our every waking activity.”

— Elise Boulding. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action. The revised 4th edition of this book has just been published. Order copies today in the NAPF Peace Store at a 25% discount.

“Together with China we’ll continue to strive for a reasonable approach and not an emotional one like when children in a kindergarten start fighting and no one can stop them.”

— Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia. Lavrov was referring to a proposal supported by Russia and China that would involve North Korea freezing its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for a halt to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

“Let us commit ourselves to a world without nuclear weapons by implementing the Non-Proliferation Treaty to abolish these weapons of death.”

— A tweet by Pope Francis on September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

“Our federations, representing millions of doctors, nurses, and public health professionals around the world, welcome this treaty as a significant forward step toward eliminating the most destructive weapons ever created, and the existential threat nuclear war poses to humanity and to the survival of all life on Earth.”

— Joint statement by the World Medical Association, International Council of Nurses, World Federation of Public Health Associations, and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. The statement urges all countries to quickly sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Joy Ferguson
David Krieger
Aidan Powers-Riggs
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

What Factors Make Nuclear War More Likely?

by David Krieger

We know that the risk of nuclear war is not zero. Humans are not capable of creating foolproof systems. Nuclear weapons systems are particularly problematic since the possession of nuclear weapons carries an implicit threat of use under certain circumstances. In accord with nuclear deterrence theory, a country threatens to use nuclear weapons, believing that it will prevent the use of nuclear weapons against it.

Nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons are currently under the control of nine countries. Each has a complex system of command and control with many possibilities for error, accident or intentional use.

Given the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war, including destruction of civilization and human extinction, identifying and eliminating the factors making nuclear war likely or even possible is imperative. There are simply too many possibilities for failure in such a complex system of interactions.

To read more, click here.

2017 Hiroshima Peace Declaration

by Mayor Kazumi Matsui

On August 6, at 8:15 a.m., absolute evil was unleashed in the sky over Hiroshima. Let’s imagine for a moment what happened under that roiling mushroom cloud. Pika—the penetrating flash, extreme radiation and heat. Don—the earth-shattering roar and blast. As the blackness lifts, the scenes emerging into view reveal countless scattered corpses charred beyond recognition even as man or woman. Stepping between the corpses, badly burned, nearly naked figures with blackened faces, singed hair, and tattered, dangling skin wander through spreading flames, looking for water. The rivers in front of you are filled with bodies; the riverbanks so crowded with burnt, half-naked victims you have no place to step. This is truly hell. Under that mushroom cloud, the absolutely evil atomic bomb brought gruesome death to vast numbers of innocent civilians and left those it didn’t kill with deep physical and emotional scars, including the aftereffects of radiation and endless health fears. Giving rise to social discrimination and prejudice, it devastated even the lives of those who managed to survive.

This hell is not a thing of the past. As long as nuclear weapons exist and policymakers threaten their use, their horror could leap into our present at any moment. You could find yourself suffering their cruelty.

To read more, click here.

Can the World Come to Its Senses on Nuclear Weapons?

by Bunny McDiarmid

President Trump, who is the ultimate commander of the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal, believed to consist of 6,800 warheads, has threatened North Korea with “fire and fury.” North Korea has threatened to attack the U.S. territory of Guam, in the Pacific Ocean. The threat of nuclear attack has become a bargaining chip, a threat spoken about all too easily and lightly.

These weapons of mass destruction are designed for one purpose only: war. Their use and even the threat of their use poses an existential threat to all life on our precious planet.

In this time where the threat of war has become thinkable again, world governments must use it as an impetus to come to their senses and disarm.

To read more, click here.

Remembering Tony de Brum

Tony de Brum, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, passed away on August 22. Ambassador de Brum was a selfless leader in the movements for nuclear weapons abolition and climate sanity, and he will be dearly missed.

In 2014, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, led by Minister de Brum, filed the Nuclear Zero Lawsuits in the International Court of Justice and U.S. Federal Court, landmark cases against the nine nuclear-armed nations “for failing to comply with their obligations under international law to pursue negotiations in good faith for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.”

Tony de Brum was a member of the NAPF Advisory Council and received the Foundation’s 2012 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award for his tireless work for justice and a world free of nuclear weapons.

Tributes to de Brum have been written from all over the world, including articles by Robert C. Koehler, the Washington Post, and The New York Times.

President Trump Threatens “Fire and Fury” Against North Korea

On August 8, President Trump warned that North Korea would face “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it continues to threaten the United States. Later that week, he threatened North Korea again, this time on Twitter. He wrote, “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.”

The same week, he told reporters, “Let’s see what he [Kim Jong-un] does with Guam. If he does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody’s seen before, what will happen in North Korea.” He added that his comments on Guam were not a “dare,” just a “statement of fact.”

Jacob Pramuk, “Trump: Maybe ‘Fire and Fury’ Statement on North Korea Wasn’t Tough Enough,” CNBC, August 10, 2017.

U.S. Warns Sweden Not to Sign Nuclear Ban Treaty

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis sent a letter to Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist warning Sweden of a negative impact on relations should they sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

According to Svenska Dagbladet, the Swedish newspaper that originally reported the story, “The implication is that if the government signs the convention banning nuclear weapons, including on Swedish territory, it would impact both defense cooperation during peace time and the possibility of military support from the USA in a crisis situation.”

The treaty opens for signature at the United Nations on September 20.

“U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis Warned Sweden Not to Sign Anti-Nuclear Weapons Treaty: Report,” The Local, August 30, 2017.

German Candidate Pledges to Remove U.S. Nuclear Weapons from German Soil

Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party leader, Martin Fultz, promised to remove 20 U.S. nuclear warheads that are kept in the country under the auspices of NATO if elected as Chancellor in September. Fultz and the Social Democrats face rival Angela Merkel and her conservative Christian Democratic Union party, and are reportedly down 39%-25% in the polls with one month left to campaign.

Schulz said that President Trump’s conflict with North Korea “shows us more than ever before how urgently we need to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and encourage disarmament.”

Erik Kirschbaum, “German Rival of Chancellor Merkel Vows to Remove U.S. Nuclear Weapons from the Country,” Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2017.

North Korea Fires Missile Over Japan

In one of its most provocative missile tests to date, North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over the island of Hokkaido, Japan, on the morning of August 28. The test sparked outrage and fear across Japan, where officials halted trains and warned residents under its path to take cover. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe requested an emergency meeting of the UN security council to address the increasingly aggressive actions taken by North Korea.

North Korean state media said the launch was “the first step of the military operation of the (North Korean military) in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam,” a U.S. territory in the Pacific.

Brad Lendon and Joshua Berlinger, “Next Target Guam, North Korea Says,” CNN, August 30, 2017.

White House Pressuring Intelligence Officials to Find Iran in Non-Compliance with Nuclear Deal

The White House is reported to have been putting pressure on intelligence agencies to find evidence that Iran has not been in compliance with the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The deal, negotiated with Iran and five other countries, dictated that Iran would dramatically scale down its nuclear infrastructure and fuel stockpiles in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions.

President Trump, who has repeatedly bashed the deal as too conciliatory to Iran, seems determined to negate the deal. Yet despite Trump’s outspoken dislike for the deal, the consensus across the nation’s intelligence agencies, governmental departments, and the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)— which is in charge of inspecting Iran’s compliance with the deal— is that Iran has not violated the terms of the deal.

Julian Borger, “White House ‘Pressuring’ Intelligence Officials to Find Iran in Violation of Nuclear Deal,” The Guardian, August 28, 2017.

U.S. Awards Contracts for Nuclear “Modernization” Programs

Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have been chosen to design and build the next generation of air-launched nuclear cruise missiles for the U.S. military. Individual $900 million dollar contracts have been provided to both companies to develop the new weapon, known as the Long Range Standoff weapon (LRSO). The Air Force is expected to order 1,000 of the missiles. The current estimated cost for the system is $10 billion.

The Pentagon has additionally recently awarded contracts to weapons companies Boeing and Northrup Grumman to begin work on a new land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system. The total cost of “modernizing” the U.S. nuclear arsenal is expected to exceed $1 trillion over the next thirty years.

David E. Sanger and William J. Broad, “Trump Forges Ahead on Costly Nuclear Overhaul”, The New York Times, August 27, 2017.

U.S. Conducts Additional Tests of New B61-12 Nuclear Bomb

On August 8, the U.S. Air Force conducted two flight tests of its new B61-12 nuclear bomb at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The test assemblies, which were dropped from an F-15E based at Nellis Air Force Base, evaluated the weapon’s non-nuclear functions and the aircraft’s capability to deliver the weapon.

The B61-12 is a new nuclear bomb that combines four previous variants of the B61. It introduces new military capabilities to the U.S. arsenal, contributing to the nuclear arms race among the world’s nine nuclear-armed nations.

“B61-12 Continues to Meet Qualification Test Schedule,” National Nuclear Security Administration, August 28, 2017.

Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Bank Opens in Kazakhstan

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) opened a “fuel bank” for low enriched uranium (LEU) on August 29 in Kazakhstan. The $150 million facility is designed to discourage countries from enriching their own nuclear fuel.

“The LEU Bank will serve as a last-resort mechanism to provide confidence to countries that they will be able to obtain LEU for the manufacture of fuel for nuclear power plants in the event of an unforeseen, non-commercial disruption to their supplies,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in a statement on Monday.

While the new fuel bank may discourage countries from developing their own uranium enrichment facilities, the issues of catastrophic accidents and an inability to safely, permanently store radioactive waste continue to pose threats to people around the world.

“UN Nuclear Watchdog Opens Uranium Bank in Kazakhstan,” Reuters, August 29, 2017.

This Month in Nuclear Threat History

History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the threats that have taken place in the month of September, including a September 14, 1954 Soviet nuclear test in which 45,000 Soviet troops were purposely exposed to a ground detonation of a 30-kiloton nuclear device.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.

Nuclear Close Calls

NAPF summer intern Sarah Witmer has published an extensive list of close calls involving nuclear weapons, including incidents in which nuclear weapons were misplaced, stolen, damaged, or even detonated.

Many of these incidents resulted in casualties, including innocent civilians, and many others nearly led to nuclear war. These close calls emphasize the lack of proper security for nuclear weapons, and the lack of training and overall competence of militaries and leaders who possess nuclear weapons. There have been far more incidents than those listed here, and likely many that militaries and world leaders withhold as classified.

To read the report, click here.

New Books Now Available

In August, new books were published by NAPF President David Krieger and NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell. The fourth edition of Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, was edited by David Krieger. The book features hundreds of quotes organized into ten chapters related to war, peace, nuclear weapons, and the human future.

Chappell’s new book, Soldiers of Peace: How to Wield the Weapon of Nonviolence with Maximum Force, is the sixth book in his Road to Peace series. This book offers a new paradigm in human understanding by dispelling popular myths and revealing timeless truths about the reality of struggle, rage, trauma, empathy, the limitations of violence, the power of nonviolence, and the skills needed to create lasting peace.

Evening for Peace: A Prescription for a Nuclear-Free World

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 34th Annual Evening for Peace will take place on Sunday, October 22, in Santa Barbara, California. The theme of this year’s event is “A Prescription for a Nuclear-Free World.” The Foundation will honor Dr. Ira Helfand and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War with its Distinguished Peace Leadership Award.

For more information, including sponsorship opportunities and tickets, click here.

Peace Literacy Moves Forward

After a successful five-day summer workshop with 27 participants from around the United States and Canada, NAPF’s Peace Literacy Initiative has begun reaching a broad audience. Participants included teachers, ministers, psychologists, activists, and students. Feedback from fellow participants allowed Shari Clough, a professor of philosophy at Oregon State University, to re-organize and re-launch the Peace Literacy website.

The website, www.peaceliteracy.org, features lesson plans for different age groups that anyone can download for free. Clough said, “Kids need to learn peace in a sustained fashion – in the same way that they are taught to read and write. And for us adults, too, we have much to learn. It is never too late.”

To read more about the Peace Literacy summer workshop and the new Peace Literacy website, click here.

Letter in The New York Times

On August 1, The New York Times published a letter to the editor from Rick Wayman, NAPF’s Director of Programs. The letter was in response to an article about the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet stating that he would obey an order to launch a nuclear strike against China.

In the letter, Wayman wrote, “Would you willingly initiate the indiscriminate slaughter of hundreds of thousands or millions of people, risking a massive nuclear exchange that could end human civilization as we know it? That is the deeper meaning of the question that Adm. Scott Swift answered in the affirmative.”

To read the full letter, click here.

Sign the Open Letter to Congress: Act to Prevent Nuclear Catastrophe

This may be the most dangerous time in human history. The Roman emperor Nero is remembered for having fiddled while Rome burned.  We may be witnessing the far more dangerous Nuclear Age equivalent to Nero’s fiddling in the form of the nuclear threat exchanges between Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Add your name to this Open Letter to members of Congress that calls on them to act urgently to prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Click here to take action.

“All warfare is based on deception.”

— Sun Tzu. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action. The revised 4th edition of this book has just been published. Order copies today in the NAPF Peace Store at a 25% discount.

“I would like to de-nuke the world. I know that President Obama said that global warming is the biggest threat. I totally disagree. I say that it’s a simple one: nuclear is our greatest threat worldwide. Not even a question, not even close. So I’d like to de-nuke the world. I would like Russia, and the United States, and China, and Pakistan, and many other countries that have nuclear weapons to get rid of them. But until such time as they do, we will be the most powerful nuclear nation on Earth by far.”

— U.S. President Donald Trump, in a media briefing on August 10, 2017.

“I worry about, frankly, the access to the nuclear codes. [If] in a fit of pique he [President Trump] decides to do something about Kim Jong Un, there’s actually very little to stop him. The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there’s very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary.”

— James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, in an interview with CNN.

“The DPRK (North Korea) will continue to strengthen its defensive capability with nuclear force, as long as U.S. … does not stop military drills on the doorstep of the DPRK. U.S. pressure and provocative acts only justify the DPRK’s measure to strengthen its self-defense capabilities.”

— Han Tae Song, North Korea’s Ambassador to the United Nations.

David Krieger
Aidan Powers-Riggs
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman