At a press conference today, President Donald Trump said, “I want to do the right thing for the American people, and to be honest, secondarily, I want to do the right thing for the world.” Trump said this in the context of U.S.-Russian relations, and immediately referred to each country’s massive nuclear arsenal. He also stated, “Nuclear holocaust would be like no other.”
Nuclear weapons put civilization and the human species at risk of annihilation, which is why we published an open letter to Presidents Trump and Putin in The Hill about this very issue early this morning. The open letter calls on the two leaders to negotiate for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
The letter was signed by NAPF President David Krieger, NAPF Senior Vice President Richard Falk, Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams, MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, NAPF Distinguished Fellow Daniel Ellsberg, Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, and CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin.
The letter states in part, “Your nuclear arsenals give each of you the power to end civilization. You also have the historic opportunity, should you choose, to become the leaders of the most momentous international collaboration of all time, dedicated to ending the nuclear weapons era over the course of a decade or so. This great goal of Nuclear Zero can be achieved by negotiating, as a matter of priority, a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.”
We think that President Trump should do “the right thing for the American people, and…for the world” – to negotiate for the complete abolition of all nuclear weapons worldwide. Will you join us in this important effort?
Congressional Legislation Introduced to Restrict Nuclear Weapons First Use
Nuclear Insanity
U.S. and UK Cover Up Trident Nuclear Missile Test Failures
Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Convicted Again
Nuclear Proliferation
North Korea Appears to Restart Plutonium Reactor
Iran Conducts Medium-Range Ballistic Missile Test
Nuclear Energy and Waste
Will Rick Perry Privatize Nuclear Waste Storage?
Nuclear Modernization
New Secretary of Defense Indicates Support for Nuclear Weapons Modernization
Resources
This Month in Nuclear Threat History
2017 Doomsday Clock Statement
A 20th Century Love Story in the Nuclear Age
Command and Control Now Available to Stream Online
Foundation Activities
16th Annual Kelly Lecture Features Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick
The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero: Final Statement from NAPF Symposium
Video Contest: The Most Dangerous Period in Human History
Take Action: Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons
Quotes
Perspectives
Martin Luther King and the Bomb
by David Krieger
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the world’s great peace leaders. Like Gandhi before him, he was a firm advocate of nonviolence. In 1955, at the age of 26, he became the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott and two years later he was elected the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Within a decade he would receive the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35. It came two years after he witnessed the terrifying prospects of nuclear war during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
King came to the following realization: “Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man’s creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a ‘peace race.’ If we have the will and determination to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.”
The world today is overwhelmed with problems. Policymakers seem to be confused and at a loss.
But no problem is more urgent today than the militarization of politics and the new arms race. Stopping and reversing this ruinous race must be our top priority.
While state budgets are struggling to fund people’s essential social needs, military spending is growing.
Thanks to Trump, the Doomsday Clock Advances Toward Midnight
by Lawrence M. Krauss and David Titley
It is now two and one-half minutes to midnight.
Our organization, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, is marking the 70th anniversary of its Doomsday Clock on Thursday by moving it 30 seconds closer to midnight. In 2016, the global security landscape darkened as the international community failed to come to grips with humanity’s most pressing threats: nuclear weapons and climate change.
Making matters worse, the United States now has a president who has promised to impede progress on both of those fronts. Never before has the Bulletin decided to advance the clock largely because of the statements of a single person. But when that person is the new president of the United States, his words matter.
On January 11, Vice President Joe Biden announced that the United States has unilaterally cut the number of nuclear weapons in its stockpile to 4,018 warheads, a reduction of 553 warheads since September 2015. The Obama administration, during its eight years in office, reduced the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile by 1,255 weapons – a number greater than the estimated number of warheads in the arsenals of Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan combined.
Congressional Legislation Introduced to Restrict Nuclear Weapons First Use
Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) have introduced legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives entitled the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017.” This legislation would prohibit the President of the United States from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress.
While the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation believes strongly that nuclear weapons should never be used under any circumstances, we do feel that this legislation is a move in the right direction to prevent what amounts to a thermonuclear monarchy.
To take action in support of this bill, click here.
Nuclear Insanity
U.S. and UK Cover Up Trident Nuclear Missile Test Failures
In 2016, the British Royal Navy conducted a test launch of a Trident II D5 missile off the East Coast of the United States. The missile veered off course and was apparently destroyed in mid-air. The test failure occurred prior to the UK Parliament’s vote in July 2016 to build a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines. A news blackout was imposed, and parliamentarians were not made aware of the failure prior to voting.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the U.S. may also have covered up a failed test of a Trident II D5 missile in 2011. Since that time, the U.S. has spent $1.75 billion to repair faults and modernize the guidance system of the missiles.
The UK leases Trident missiles, which carry nuclear warheads, from the United States.
Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli whistleblower who exposed Israel’s nuclear weapons program in the mid-1980s, has been convicted of violating his parole. Under the terms of his release from prison, he is not allowed to leave Israel and is extremely restricted in meetings with foreigners. He was convicted of meeting with two U.S. citizens in east Jerusalem in 2013 without permission from Israeli authorities.
Vanunu spent 18 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, after leaking details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program to the Sunday Times. The sentence for his most recent conviction has not yet been announced, but he could face additional prison time.
Analysis of satellite imagery from the group 38 North indicates that North Korea has restarted its plutonium reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear facility. The majority of the river near the reactor is frozen, except for where water from the facility mixes with the river, indicating that it is operating.
This news came as U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis prepared to visit South Korea and Japan, key U.S. allies in the region.
On January 29, Iran conducted a test of a medium-range ballistic missile. According to a U.S. official, the missile exploded after flying 630 miles.
It remains unclear whether the test violates a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran not to conduct activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Rick Perry, nominee to become U.S. Secretary of Energy, has deep ties to Waste Control Specialists, a Texas company that seeks to store high-level nuclear waste. Currently, high-level radioactive waste is stored on-site at nuclear power plants across the nation since there is no solution to safely, permanently store it.
Harold Simmons, the founder of Waste Control Specialists, donated over $1.3 million to Rick Perry’s political campaigns prior to his death in 2013.
In 2014, as Governor of Texas, Perry sent a letter to the Texas lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house, in which he declared that “it’s time for Texas to act” on interim nuclear waste storage because states holding onto high-level radioactive waste have “been betrayed by their federal government.”
New Secretary of Defense Indicates Support for Nuclear Weapons Modernization
Gen. James Mattis, President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, indicated broad support for continuing the Obama administration’s 30-year, $1 trillion plan to “modernize” the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In Congressional testimony, Mattis said, “We must continue with current nuclear modernization plans for all three legs of the Triad, and for associated command and control systems.”
The only element of the modernization plan that Mattis questioned related to the Long-Range Standoff weapon (LRSO), a new air-launched nuclear cruise missile. Responding to a question about his support for building the LRSO, Mattis said, “I need to look at that one. My going in position is that it makes sense, but I have to look at it in terms of its deterrence capability.”
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 February, including the February 20, 2016 test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.
2017 Doomsday Clock Statement
Each year, the setting of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ (BAS) Doomsday Clock galvanizes a global debate about whether the planet is safer or more dangerous today than it was last year, and at key moments in recent history. On January 26, 2017, BAS announced that it has moved the Doomsday Clock 30 seconds closer to midnight.
The final statement on the decision to move the Doomsday Clock to 2 1/2 minutes to midnight is available here.
A 20th Century Love Story in the Nuclear Age
A recently-published memoir by Dolores Tate, My Rock from Stoneman: A 20th Century Love Story in the Nuclear Age, is about enduring love in turbulent times. Dolores Tate is a social justice activist and a retired teacher of the arts. The story of Dolores and her husband, John, started in the 1950s, when John served in the military and participated in A-bomb testing in the Nevada desert. It continues on as they bring up their four daughters, fight racism in their community in the 1960s, and John pursues his passion for teaching. Family photos and copies of personal letters included in the book make this memoir an intimate story.
It can be purchased on Amazon.com. If you use Amazon Smile, please select the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation as your charity of choice.
Command and Control Now Available to Stream Online
The documentary recounts a chilling nuclear nightmare that played out at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas in September, 1980. A worker accidentally dropped a socket, puncturing the fuel tank of an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead in the U.S. arsenal, an incident which ignited a series of feverish efforts to avoid a deadly disaster.
Foundation Activities
16th Annual Kelly Lecture Features Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 16th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future will feature legendary Hollywood director Oliver Stone and Professor Peter Kuznick, co-authors of the internationally-acclaimed documentary The Untold History of the United States.
The lecture, entitled “Untold History, Uncertain Future,” will take place on February 23, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. Tickets start at $10 and are available here.
For more information about the Kelly Lecture series, click here.
The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero: Final Statement from NAPF Symposium
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has published a final document reflecting the discussions at the symposium “The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero: Changing the Discourse,” held in Santa Barbara, California, on October 24-25, 2016. The statement also takes into account the changed political landscape in the U.S. following the election of Donald Trump, which occurred two weeks after the symposium.
The statement says in part, “Humanity and the planet face two existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear annihilation. While climate change is the subject of increasing public awareness and concern, the same cannot be said about growing nuclear dangers arising from worsening international circumstances. It’s time again to sound the alarm and mobilize public opinion on a massive scale. Our lives may depend on it.”
To read the full statement and see the list of endorsers, click here.
Video Contest: The Most Dangerous Period in Human History
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 2017 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest launched on February 1. This year’s contest invites people to submit videos about why this is the most dangerous period in human history, and what can be done to bring civilization back from the brink.
The contest is free to enter and is open to people of all ages from anywhere in the world. For more information about the contest, click here.
Peace Literacy, Trauma, and Hope
A survivor of extreme childhood trauma and subjected to bullying because of his tri-racial background, Paul K. Chappell, Director of NAPF’s Peace Leadership Program, has developed the seven forms of Peace Literacy. The second form of Peace Literacy is literacy in the art of living, a skill set that has helped Chappell overcome his childhood trauma, control the homicidal rage that resulted from that trauma, and help heal his psychological wounds. The most difficult art form is the art of living. Peace Literacy gives us the skills to reclaim a realistic hope, to shift our language from one driven and determined by trauma and rage to one of peace, compassion, and a sense of shared humanity.
In the next five weeks, Chappell will bring his presentation on Peace Literacy to schools in Wisconsin, Washington State, California, and Oregon.
“In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World War II would be unleashed every second during the long afternoon it would take for all the missiles and bombs to fall. A World War II every second — more people killed in the first few hours than all the wars of history put together. The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide.”
— Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. President. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.
“When they explain what it represents and the kind of destruction that you’re talking about, it is a very sobering moment, yes. It’s very, very scary, in a sense…. I have confidence that I’ll do the right thing, the right job.”
— President Donald Trump, in an interview with ABC News in which he was asked about the moment he received the U.S. nuclear codes following his inauguration.
“Nuclear weapons should be completely prohibited and destroyed over time to make the world free of nuclear weapons.”
— Xi Jinping, President of China, in a speech to the United Nations in Geneva on January 19, 2017.
“This is dangerous in the extreme — a future in which our children and grandchildren cower under desks in new ‘duck-and-cover’ drills is not a future we should seek.”
— Marylia Kelley, Executive Director of Tri-Valley CAREs, in a Las Vegas Review-Journalarticle about the possibility of President Trump resuming full-scale nuclear testing in Nevada.
“As Secretary-General, I am firmly resolved to actively pursue the abolition of all weapons of mass destruction and the strict regulation of conventional weapons. I am committed to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.”
— António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a video message to the Conference on Disarmament on January 24, 2017.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation announces the 2017 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest. Entries are due by April 1, 2017.
2017 Contest: The Most Dangerous Period in Human History
The world’s nine nuclear-armed nations still possess nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons. Donald Trump, as a Presidential candidate, showed impulsiveness, irrational behavior and a lack of understanding of nuclear weapons. Now he has control of the United States’ vast nuclear arsenal. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists recently moved its “Doomsday Clock” to 2 ½ minutes to midnight.
Make a video of 2 ½ minutes or less about why this is the most dangerous period in human history, and what can be done to take civilization back from the brink.
Awards
1st Place: $500
2nd Place: $300
3rd Place: $200
Deadline
All entries must be received electronically by 5:00 pm Pacific Time on April 1, 2017. There are no exceptions to this deadline. The winning videos will be announced on April 17, 2017.
Rules
A submission that does not adhere to all of the contest rules will not be considered for a cash award.
1. Contest begins on February 1, 2017.
2. Submission must be in English (if language is used).
3. Submission must not exceed 2 ½ minutes in length.
4. Submission must be on topic.
5. Submission must not contain foul language or slander.
6. Employees or paid consultants of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, or their immediate family members, are not eligible for a prize.
7. Video can be any type (traditional video, animation, flash, etc.).
8. Winners will be responsible for providing NAPF with a high-resolution copy of their video before prize money is distributed.
9. By submitting your video, you are promising that you own all rights to all material in your video, including the music, images, script, and rights to include all persons, places or organizations included or depicted (see below for information on Creative Commons footage). The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will have distribution rights for non-commercial use, and video makers will have co-distribution rights for either public or commercial use. You also agree to allow the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation to use your name, identification, and likeness to use, promote or publicize your video in any manner, without limitation, and without further compensation. You agree to indemnify the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, including for legal costs, against any challenges to the ownership, use of, or rights to material in your video.
10. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. By submitting your video, you agree to release Facebook of any and all liability associated with this contest.
How to Enter
There are no fees to enter the contest. There are three different ways to enter:
1. Upload directly to Facebook.
a. Go to the contest’s Facebook page and “Like” it.
b. Upload your video directly to the contest’s Facebook page.
c. Send an email to rwayman@napf.org with your video’s title, your name and your preferred email address (for communication in case you are selected as a winner).
d. We will send you a confirmation email within one business day.
2. Link from YouTube
a. Upload your video to your personal YouTube account.
b. Go to the contest’s Facebook page and “Like” it.
c. Post the URL of your YouTube video to the contest’s Facebook page.
d. Send an email to rwayman@napf.org with your video’s title, your name and your preferred email address (for communication in case you are selected as a winner).
e. We will send you a confirmation email within one business day.
3. Email the video to us (for those without a Facebook account)
a. Go to www.wetransfer.com.
b. Click on “Add Files” (your file must be less than 2GB in size).
c. In the “Friend’s Email” field, enter rwayman@napf.org.
d. In the “Your Email” field, enter the email address where you would like to receive confirmation from us.
e. In the “Message” field, enter your full name and the video title.
f. The contest administrator will post your video to the contest’s Facebook page. We will send you a confirmation email within one business day.
Copyright Information
There is a significant amount of video and audio available online that falls under Creative Commons licensing. It is permissible to use Creative Commons video and/or audio in your entry as long as you meet the requirements of the particular license. Click here for more information on Creative Commons. Entries that violate copyright are not eligible for a prize.
Judging
A committee of filmmakers and educators selected by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will judge entries on the basis of originality of ideas, creativity and clarity of expression.
All Rights Reserved
All products resulting from the winning proposals become the property of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. The Foundation reserves the right to publish or broadcast all submissions to the contest.
Contest Administration
Contest administered by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation — 1622 Anacapa Street — Santa Barbara, CA 93101. (805) 965-3443.
2016 Winning Videos
Congratulations to everyone who entered the 2016 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest. Click here to view the winning videos from 2016.
Additional Resources
Here are a few resources that you might look at as you think about the content of your video:
1. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Facebook page.
2. New York Timesop-ed about the Doomsday Clock.
3. “The Most Dangerous Period in Human History,” an article by NAPF President David Krieger.
4. “Trillion Dollar Trainwreck” — a report by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.
5. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Sunflower newsletter, which contains many of each month’s top nuclear-related stories.
Thank you for your interest in promoting the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017. Phone calls are a very effective way to get your message across. You can reach your Representative and Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Once you are connected to your official’s office, you may be asked for some identifying information, such as your zip code.
Here are sample scripts that you can use or modify when speaking with your elected officials.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Hello, my name is XXXXXX. I am calling to encourage Representative YYYYYYY to co-sponsor H.R. 669, the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu. The legislation would prohibit the President of the United States from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. I believe that this is a basic issue of Constitutional checks and balances on Executive powers.
SENATE
Hello, my name is XXXXXX. I am calling to encourage Senator YYYYYYY to co-sponsor S. 200, the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, introduced by Sen. Edward Markey. The legislation would prohibit the President of the United States from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. I believe that this is a basic issue of Constitutional checks and balances on Executive powers.
After you complete your phone calls, it would be very helpful for you to report back to us about how your calls went. Click here to access the report-back form.
[This document reflects the discussions at the symposium “The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero: Changing the Discourse,” held in Santa Barbara, California, on October 24-25, 2016, and also takes into account the changed political landscape in the U.S. following the election of Donald Trump, which occurred two weeks after the symposium. The symposium was sponsored and organized by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.]
Humanity and the planet face two existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear annihilation. While climate change is the subject of increasing public awareness and concern, the same cannot be said about growing nuclear dangers arising from worsening international circumstances. It’s time again to sound the alarm and mobilize public opinion on a massive scale. Our lives may depend on it.
More than a quarter of a century since the end of the Cold War, some 14,900 nuclear weapons, most an order of magnitude more powerful than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, 93% held by the U.S. and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable and increasing threat to humanity and the biosphere. Recent studies by atmospheric scientists show that a nuclear war between India and Pakistan involving 100 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs dropped on cities could produce climate change unprecedented in recorded human history. A drop in average surface temperatures, depletion of the ozone layer, and shortened agricultural growing seasons would lead to massive famine and starvation resulting in as many as two billion deaths over the following decade. A full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia would result in a “Nuclear Winter,” triggering a new Ice Age and ending most complex life on the planet.
The danger of wars among nuclear-armed states is growing. There is hope that such wars can be avoided, but that hope, while the essential basis of action, is not sufficient to end the nuclear threat facing humanity and complex life on this planet. Hope must give rise to action.
The United States is poised to spend one trillion dollars over the next 30 years to modernize its nuclear bombs and warheads, the submarines, missiles and bombers to deliver them, and the infrastructure to sustain the nuclear enterprise indefinitely. The other nuclear-armed countries – Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea – are modernizing their nuclear arsenals as well.
RISING TENSIONS
Tensions between the United States/NATO and Russia have risen to levels not seen since the Cold War, with the two nuclear giants confronting each other in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Syria, and an accelerated tempo of military exercises and war games, both conventional and nuclear, on both sides.
The U.S., the only nation with nuclear weapons deployed on foreign soil, is estimated to have 180 nuclear weapons stationed at six NATO bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. In June 2016, the largest NATO war games in decades were conducted in Poland. The exercises came weeks after activating a U.S. missile defense system in Romania and ground breaking for another missile defense system in Poland. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that there would be “action in response to guarantee our security.”
In October 2016, Russia moved nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into the Kaliningrad territory bordering Poland and Lithuania, signaling its response to NATO, while claiming it was a routine exercise. Russian officials have previously described the role that the 500 km-range Iskander system would play in targeting U.S. missile defense installations in Poland.
In mid-December 2016, the Obama administration announced plans to deploy troops in Poland, the Baltic states and Romania. According to the U.S. Commander, this would send “the very powerful signal” that “the United States, along with the rest of NATO, is committed to deterrence.”
In Syria, with perhaps the most complex war in history raging, the U.S., Russia and France are bombing side-by-side and sometimes on opposing sides.
Adding to the conflicts among nuclear-armed states, the U.S., with its “pivot” to the Pacific, is facing off against China in seas where other Asian nations are contesting Chinese territorial claims. India and Pakistan remain locked in a nuclear arms race amid mounting diplomatic tensions, border clashes and rising military budgets. And North Korea, refusing to heed strong international condemnation, continues to conduct nuclear weapons tests. It has even announced an intention to test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.
These potential nuclear flashpoints are ripe for escalation. An accidental or intentional military incident could send the world spiraling into a disastrous nuclear confrontation. A great danger is that the rulers of one nuclear-armed state will miscalculate the interests and fears of another, pushing some geopolitical gambit to the point where economic pressures, covert actions, low-intensity warfare and displays of high-tech force escalate into regional or general war. This vulnerability to unintended consequences is reminiscent of the circumstances that led to World War I, but made more dangerous by U.S. and Russian policies of nuclear first-use, keeping nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert, and launch-on-warning.
THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY
During the Presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s nuclear weapons rhetoric was cavalier, suggesting deep ignorance. No one knows what he’ll do in office, but U.S. national security policy has been remarkably consistent in the post-World War II and post-Cold War eras, despite dramatically changed geopolitical conditions and very different presidential styles. The threatened use of nuclear weapons as the “cornerstone” of U.S. national security policy has been reaffirmed by every President, Republican or Democrat, since 1945, when President Harry Truman, a Democrat, oversaw the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
According to the Trump transition website: “Mr. Trump will ensure our strategic nuclear triad is modernized to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent….” This is essentially a continuation of the Obama administration’s policy. Trump’s ominous December 22, 2016 tweet – “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capabilityuntil such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes” – seemed to indicate an intention to increase the level of reliance on the nuclear threat.
While Trump’s conciliatory tone towards Russia offers a glimmer of hope for lowering tensions between the two nuclear-armed giants, the firestorm raging around U.S. government assertions that Russia manipulated the U.S. election to help Trump win has immeasurably compounded the difficulties in predicting what will happen next. Trump’s stated aim to tear up the Iran nuclear deal reveals his deficient understanding of international relations, indicating a lack of awareness that this is a multilateral agreement involving all five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany, and that Russia and Iran are engaged in cooperative military operations, including against ISIS. Trump’s belligerent attitude toward China, a strategic ally of Russia, and his threat to upend the decades-long U.S. “one China” policy, is another cause for serious concern.
In his farewell address to the nation in 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower warned: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” An earlier version of his warning referred to the “military-industrial-congressional complex.”
We now face the likelihood of a far more military-industrial Presidential cabinet. The specter of a Trump presidency with a right-wing Republican House and Senate, as well as a compliant Supreme Court, is chilling to an unprecedented degree. Trump’s appointments and nominations of reactionary, hardliner ex-generals, billionaire heads of corporations, and climate-change deniers are cause for grave concern in both the domestic and foreign policy arenas.
The Cold War concept of “strategic stability” among great powers, although itself never an adequate basis for genuine international security, is foundering. The Cold War and post-Cold War managerial approach to arms control must be challenged. Addressing nuclear dangers must take place in a much broader framework, taking into account the interface between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons and militarism in general, the humanitarian and long-term environmental consequences of nuclear war, and the fundamental incompatibility of nuclear weapons with democracy, the rule of law, and human well-being.
GROWING CRISES
In 2009, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev warned, “Military superiority would be an insurmountable obstacle to ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Unless we discuss demilitarization of international politics, the reduction of military budgets, preventing militarization of outer space, talking about a nuclear-free world will be just rhetorical.”
Nuclear arms control has ground to a halt and the world is backsliding. The growing crises among nuclear-armed states must be defused and disarmament efforts put back on track. Nothing is more important now than to counter the notion that collaborative security with Russia is to be regarded as treasonous or somehow more dangerous than confrontational geopolitics. Peace is an imperative of the Nuclear Age. Starting with the U.S. and Russia, the nuclear-armed states must sit down at the negotiating table and begin to address Gorbachev’s agenda.
It is essential at this time to assert the credibility and the necessity of a transformational approach to nuclear disarmament. We should do our utmost to marshal public discourse to counter the militarization of governments’ imaginations. The use of military force should always be the last option, not just in rhetoric, but in diplomatic practice.
There has never been a greater need for imaginative diplomacy. The cycle of provocation and response must be halted. Nuclear threats must cease. Nuclear weapons modernization programs must be terminated. Military exercises and war games must be curtailed and conducted with great sensitivity to geopolitical conditions. The U.S. should withdraw its nuclear weapons from NATO bases and, at a minimum, stop NATO expansion and provocative deployments. Policies of nuclear first-use, hair-trigger alert, and launch-on-warning must be ended.
In the longer term, military alliances should be dismantled and replaced by a new collective security paradigm. All nations, first and foremost the U.S., by far the largest weapons exporter, should stop the sale and supply of arms to conflict regions.
CHANGING THE DISCOURSE
Changing the discourse involves both language and processes. We need to take seriously our human role as stewards of the earth and talk about nuclear dangers in terms of potential omnicide. Nuclear weapons are incompatible with democracy. They place vast unaccountable power in a few leaders’ hands, unchecked by the millions of voices that true democracy depends on. We must reject notions of U.S. exceptionalism that exempt this country from respect for the rule of law and the authority of the United Nations. Further, we must revitalize the U.S. Constitution by reintroducing checks and balances into decision-making about war and peace.
Indeed, much of the world does seem to be coming to its senses regarding nuclear weapons. Deeply frustrated by the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament, in December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly voted by a large majority to hold negotiations in 2017 on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, leading to their elimination. The vote represents an historic global repudiation of the nuclear weapons status quo among the vast majority of non-nuclear weapons states. None of the nine nuclear-armed nations supported the resolution, and it is unlikely that any nuclear-armed states will participate in the negotiations.
To realize the full value of a “ban” treaty, we must demand that the nuclear-armed states recognize the existing illegality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons under international law protecting civilians and the environment from the effects of warfare. The governments of these states must finally act to meet their disarmament obligations under Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary international law, and participate in good faith in the negotiations as unanimously mandated by the International Court of Justice in its 1996 Advisory Opinion.
The media have narrowed the boundaries of debate, and the public has virtually no feasible means to engage decision-makers on disarmament imperatives. Yet the need for such discourse has never been more urgent. We reject the apocalyptic narrative and summon the imaginations of people everywhere to envision a vastly different future. There is no inevitability to the course of history, and a mobilized citizenry can redirect it toward a positive future.
AN ETHICAL IMPERATIVE
There exists an ethical imperative to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The survival of the human species and other forms of complex life requires acting upon this imperative. We will need to successfully reach out to constituencies and organizations outside the peace and disarmament sphere to inspire and engage millions, if not tens of millions, of people. Education and engagement of both media and youth will be critical for success. Hope must be joined with action if we are to abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us. The alarm is sounding.
*Initial endorsers of this statement include: Rich Appelbaum, Jackie Cabasso, Paul K. Chappell, Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, Richard Falk, Mark Hamilton, Kimiaki Kawai, David Krieger, Peter Kuznick, Robert Laney, Judith Lipton, Elaine Scarry, Jennifer Simons, Daniel U. Smith, Steven Starr, and Rick Wayman. A full list of symposium participants, along with videos, audio and transcripts of presentations, are available at www.wagingpeace.org/symposium-fierce-urgency. The Spanish version of this statement is here.
From L to R: Front Row: Daniel Ellsberg, David Krieger, Noam Chomsky. Second Row: Paul K. Chappell, Rick Wayman, Elaine Scarry, Steven Starr, Richard Falk, Jackie Cabasso, Jennifer Simons, Peter Kuznick, Judith Lipton, Kimiaki Kawai. Third Row: Robert Laney, Mark Hamilton, Daniel Smith, John Mecklin, Hans Kristensen, Rich Appelbaum.
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Perspectives
The Most Dangeorus Period in Human History by David Krieger
I Lost Family in Hiroshima. Mr. Trump, Nuclear Weapons Are No Game. by George Takei
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy
Top Scientists Urge Trump to Abide By Iran Nuclear Deal
Nuclear Insanity
Pakistani Defense Minister Threatens Nuclear War Over Fake News Story
Threat of Hacking at Nuclear Plants Is Growing
Nuclear Proliferation
North Korea Claims It Will Test Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Missile Defense
U.S. Missile Defense Funding Continues to Grow, Despite Flaws
Nuclear Energy and Waste
Cost for Cleanup at Hanford Rises Yet Again
Nuclear Modernization
Trump Administration May Face Pressure to Resume Nuclear Testing
Resources
This Month in Nuclear Threat History
Don’t Bank on the Bomb
Nuclear Ban Treaty Negotiations in 2017
Command and Control on PBS January 10
Foundation Activities
16th Annual Kelly Lecture Features Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick
Open Letter to President-elect Trump: Negotiate Nuclear Zero
Peace Leadership: 2016 Year In Review
Quotes
Perspectives
The Most Dangerous Period in Human History
by David Krieger
It is terrifying to think of Donald Trump with the codes to launch the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Ironically, Trump himself may be the single best argument anyone could make for why the world should abolish nuclear weapons. The mix of Trump and nuclear weapons is a formula for making his term in office the most dangerous period in human history.
Trump tweets from the hip, like a crazy man. When he tweets or speaks, he often muddies the waters. His aides spend much of their time trying to calm the fears he raises in his compulsive tweeting.
I Lost Family in Hiroshima. Mr. Trump, Nuclear Weapons Are No Game.
by George Takei
I can’t help but feel Mr. Trump treats brinksmanship as some game. It’s hard to believe he needs reminding, but nuclear weapons are not toys, nor are they chips to be wagered in some kind of high stakes poker match. I am among a dwindling number still around who remember the first time atomic weapons were used—at that time to end a terrible world war. I had family in Hiroshima when the Enola Gay dropped its deadly payload, obliterating the entire city in an instant.
So it is with ever-increasing alarm that we must acknowledge that a man, who apparently lacks the self-control to keep his fingers from tweeting, now literally has those same fingers on the nuclear button. But beyond the question of temperament, I must ask: Does Donald Trump understand the true horror of what he can unleash in an instant?
Top Scientists Urge Trump to Abide By Iran Nuclear Deal
Dozens of top U.S. scientists sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump urging him not to dismantle the Iran nuclear deal when he takes office. The letter was organized by Richard Garwin, a physicist who was involved in designing the world’s first hydrogen bomb. The letter says that the Iran deal “has dramatically reduced the risk that Iran could suddenly produce significant quantities” of nuclear weapon materials and has “lowered the pressure felt by Iran’s neighbors to develop their own nuclear weapons options.”
Among the 37 signatories to the letter is NAPF Associate Martin Hellman, who wrote about the issue in a recent blog post.
Pakistani Defense Minister Threatens Nuclear War Over Fake News Story
On December 23, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif wrote on his official Twitter account, “Israeli (defense minister) threatens nuclear retaliation presuming (Pakistan) role in Syria against Daesh. Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear State too.”
Asif was responding to an article published by AWDNews, which quoted former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon as threatening Pakistan with nuclear weapons if Pakistan sent troops to Syria. However, Yaalon is not the current Israeli Defense Minister, and there is no evidence that Yaalon ever said such a thing.
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told a meeting of the UN Security Council that “vicious non-state groups” are actively seeking weapons of mass destruction, and that such groups can already create mass disruption using cyber technologies. Eliasson called the hacking of a nuclear plant a “nightmare scenario.”
The Security Council meeting focused on ways to halt the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons by extremist groups and criminals.
North Korea Claims It Will Test Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has claimed that his country is in the final stages of preparing for a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. He stated that North Korea has “achieved the status of a nuclear power, a military giant in the East which no enemy, however formidable, would dare to provoke.”
Multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibit such launches by North Korea, and its missile program has been the cause of economic sanctions in the past. Meanwhile, other nuclear-armed states, including the United States, continue to test and develop intercontinental ballistic missiles with no sanctions or Security Council resolutions.
U.S. Missile Defense Funding Continues to Grow, Despite Flaws
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, first deployed in 2004, is poised to grow despite a poor testing record. The GMD system is designed to defend the United States against a surprise missile attack from a country like Iran or North Korea. However, the system has failed to intercept mock enemy warheads about half of the time.
Despite this dismal failure rate, the U.S. is searching for new locations to deploy additional GMD interceptors. Numerous locations around the United States are vying for the opportunity, primarily because of the economic stimulus that could come with the $4 billion construction cost. Currently, four GMD interceptors are deployed in California and 30 are deployed in Alaska. A new site would add around 20 more interceptors, with a capacity for up to 60.
A report by the Government Accountability Office said that GMD’s test record has been “insufficient to demonstrate that an operationally useful defense capability exists.” A report by the Union of Concerned Scientists stated that the GMD system is “simply unable to protect the U.S. public.”
The U.S. Department of Energy has reported that the projected cost to clean up highly radioactive sludge at the Hanford Site in Washington State has risen another $4.5 billion to a current projected total of $16.8 billion. The Waste Treatment Plant is now over four times its original budget and more than a decade behind schedule.
Over 56 million gallons of radioactive sludge, currently stored in leaking underground tanks, await the opening of the proposed facility, which will turn the waste into glass. The facility has been under a stop-work order for three years because of serious technical doubts.
Trump Administration May Face Pressure to Resume Nuclear Testing
With President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of former Texas governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), observers are worried that the agency will face pressure to resume full-scale explosive nuclear testing. The U.S. has maintained a moratorium on full-scale nuclear test explosions since 1992, while continuing to conduct computer simulations and “sub-critical” tests.
Many conservative think tanks are calling for a resumption of tests because of fears that the nuclear stockpile is no longer reliable. While the past two Energy Secretaries – Stephen Chu and Ernest Moniz – have significant backgrounds in science and physics, Rick Perry is a politician who famously championed eliminating the DOE during the 2012 presidential campaign.
As the “modernization” of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, begun under President Obama, continues, it is likely that pressure will continue to mount from the right to test the new weapons being produced.
History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the most serious threats that have taken place in the month of January, including the January 21, 1968 crash of a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber carrying four 1.1 megaton Mark 28 nuclear bombs.
For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.
Don’t Bank on the Bomb
PAX has published an update of its report “Don’t Bank on the Bomb.” The report outlines the companies around the world that produce nuclear weapons, as well as the many institutions that finance the nuclear weapon producers. The report also highlights numerous financial institutions in its “Hall of Fame” for their policies explicitly prohibiting financing nuclear weapon producers.
Read the report at dontbankonthebomb.com to find out if your bank is involved in financing the production of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Ban Treaty Negotiations in 2017
The United Nations will convene negotiations in 2017 on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.” This new international agreement will place nuclear weapons on the same legal footing as other weapons of mass destruction, which have long been outlawed.
The negotiations will take place at UN headquarters in New York from March 27-31 and June 15 – July 7, with the participation of governments, international organizations and civil society representatives.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has published a webpage with more information about the negotiations and frequently-asked questions about the ban treaty process. Click here to view the page.
Command and Control on PBS January 10
Command and Control, the powerful documentary based on the book by Eric Schlosser, is scheduled to air on PBS stations around the United States on Tuesday, January 10.
The documentary recounts a chilling nuclear nightmare that played out at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas in September, 1980. A worker accidentally dropped a socket, puncturing the fuel tank of an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead in the U.S. arsenal, an incident which ignited a series of feverish efforts to avoid a deadly disaster.
Foundation Activities
16th Annual Kelly Lecture Features Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 16th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future will feature legendary Hollywood director Oliver Stone and Professor Peter Kuznick, co-authors of the internationally-acclaimed documentary The Untold History of the United States.
The lecture, entitled “Untold History, Uncertain Future,” will take place on February 23, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. Tickets start at $10 and are available here.
For more information about the Kelly Lecture series, click here.
Open Letter to President-elect Trump: Negotiate Nuclear Zero
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has sent an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump, reminding him that, as President of the United States, he will soon have “the grave responsibility of assuring that nuclear weapons are not overtly threatened or used during [his] term of office.”
The Open Letter advises Trump of the U.S. obligation under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to negotiate in good faith for an end to the nuclear arms race and for nuclear disarmament. It explains that nuclear deterrence is based upon on the willingness of political leaders to act rationally under all circumstances, even those of extreme stress. It goes on to say that nuclear proliferation and a renewed nuclear arms race would both make for a far more dangerous world.
Among the signers to the Open Letter are many advisors, board members and staff of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and others, including Helen Caldicott, Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, Richard Falk, Oliver Stone and Setsuko Thurlow, to mention just a few.
In 2016, NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell reached 5,180 people directly, including 200 college-level educators and 2,550 middle and high school students, through a total of 54 lectures and 16 workshops.
Chappell gave a lecture in August 2016 at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. He was the final speaker of their week-long “The Ethical Realities of War” series. The lecture was presented to an audience of 1,200 at the United States’ oldest summer lecture series; the video of this talk is now being used as a teaching tool.
To read more about the accomplishments of the NAPF Peace Leadership Program in 2016, click here.
Quotes
“If we do not speak for Earth, who will? If we are not committed to our own survival, who will be?”
— Carl Sagan. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.
“Violence is not the cure for our broken world. Countering violence with violence leads at best to forced migrations and enormous suffering, because vast amounts of resources are diverted to military ends and away from the everyday needs of young people, families experiencing hardship, the elderly, the infirm and the great majority of people in our world. At worst, it can lead to the death, physical and spiritual, of many people, if not of all.”
— Pope Francis, in a message for the 50th World Day of Peace on January 1, 2017.
“Congress must not allow the Tweeter in Chief to unleash a dangerous and costly nuclear arms race.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT),in a December 23 post to Twitter.
Open Letter to President-elect Trump: Negotiate Nuclear Zero
As president of the United States, you will have the grave responsibility of assuring that nuclear weapons are not overtly threatened or used during your term of office.
The most certain way to fulfill this responsibility is to negotiate with the other possessors of nuclear weapons for their total elimination. The U.S. is obligated under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to engage in such negotiations in good faith for an end to the nuclear arms race and for nuclear disarmament.
A nuclear war, any nuclear war, would be an act of insanity. Between nuclear weapons states, it would lead to the destruction of the attacking nation as well as the attacked. Between the U.S. and Russia, it would threaten the survival of humanity.
There are still more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world, of which the United States possesses approximately 7,000. Some 1,000 of these remain on hair-trigger alert. A similar number remain on hair-trigger alert in Russia. This is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Even if nuclear weapons are not used intentionally, they could be used inadvertently by accident or miscalculation. Nuclear weapons and human fallibility are a dangerous mix.
Nuclear deterrence presupposes a certain view of human behavior. It depends on the willingness of political leaders to act rationally under all circumstances, even those of extreme stress. It provides no guarantees or physical protection. It could fail spectacularly and tragically.
You have suggested that more nations – such as Japan, South Korea and even Saudi Arabia – may need to develop their own nuclear arsenals because the U.S. spends too much money protecting other countries. This nuclear proliferation would make for a far more dangerous world. It is also worrisome that you have spoken of dismantling or reinterpreting the international agreement that places appropriate limitations on Iran’s nuclear program and has the support of all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.
As other presidents have had, you will have at your disposal the power to end civilization as we know it. You will also have the opportunity, should you choose, to lead in ending the nuclear weapons era and achieving nuclear zero through negotiations on a treaty for the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of nuclear weapons.
We, the undersigned, urge you to choose the course of negotiations for a nuclear weapons-free world. It would be a great gift to all humanity and all future generations.
The Arms Control Association, a prominent Washington, DC-based group promoting arms control policies, has announced the finalists for its annual Arms Control Person of the Year award.
One of the finalists is the government of the Marshall Islands and its former Foreign Minister Tony de Brum, “for pursuing a formal legal case in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the world’s nuclear-armed states for their failure to initiate nuclear disarmament negotiations in violation of Article VI of the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and customary international law.”
We appreciate the good work done in 2016 by all the nominees. However, we believe that the courage and foresight demonstrated by the Marshall Islands in filing these cases is unparalleled. And let’s not forget that the Marshall Islands’ case against the United States is still active. Receiving this award would help bring added attention to this ongoing effort in U.S. Federal Court. The Marshall Islands’ sustained effort to bring these issues to the highest judicial forums deserves strong recognition.
I encourage you to submit your vote for the Marshall Islands in this year’s contest, and to ask your friends, family, and colleagues. Voting is open now through January 5, 2017, at this link: https://www.armscontrol.org/acpoy.
We also have some social media content ready for you to share about this vote. Please re-tweet this tweet from @napf, and share this image on Facebook. Your support is much appreciated!
Como presidente de los Estados Unidos, usted tendrá la grave responsabilidad de asegurar que las armas nucleares no sirvan como amenaza o sean utilizadas durante su mandato.
La mejor manera de cumplir con esta responsabilidad es negociar con los demás poseedores de armas nucleares para su eliminación total. Los Estados Unidos están obligados, de conformidad con el artículo VI del Tratado Sobre la No Proliferación de las Armas Nucleares, a entablar negociaciones de buena fe para poner fin a la carrera de armamentos nucleares y su desarme.
Una guerra nuclear, cualquier guerra nuclear, sería un acto de locura, lo que probablemente conduciría a la destrucción de la nación atacante, así como la nación atacada
Todavía hay más de 15.000 armas nucleares en el mundo, de las cuales Estados Unidos posee más de 7.000. Un millar de ellas permanecen en estado de lanzamiento inmediato. Un número similar están listas para ser disparadas en cualquier momento en Rusia. Esta es una catástrofe esperando a suceder.
Incluso si las armas nucleares no se utilizan intencionalmente, podrían ser lanzadas inadvertidamente por accidente o error de cálculo. Las armas nucleares y la falibilidad humana son una mezcla muy peligrosa.
La disuasión nuclear presupone una visión especial de la conducta humana. Depende de la voluntad de los líderes políticos para actuar racionalmente en todas las circunstancias, incluso las de estrés extremo. No ofrece garantías ni protección física. Podría fallar espectacular y trágicamente
Usted ha sugerido que más naciones –como Japón, Corea del Sur e incluso Arabia Saudita – necesitarán desarrollar sus propios arsenales nucleares porque Estados Unidos gasta demasiado dinero protegiendo a otros países. Esta proliferación nuclear haría al mundo mucho más peligroso. También es preocupante que usted haya hablado de revocar o reinterpretar el acuerdo internacional que impone las limitaciones apropiadas al programa nuclear de Irán y cuenta con el apoyo de los cinco miembros permanentes del consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas, además de Alemania.
Como lo ha sido con otros presidentes, usted tendrá a su disposición el poder de acabar con la civilización, la especie humana y la mayoría de las otras formas de vida compleja También tendrá la oportunidad, si así lo decide, de liderar la eliminación de la era de las armas nucleares y el logro del cero nuclear mediante negociaciones sobre un tratado para la eliminación gradual, verificable, irreversible y transparente de las armas nucleares.
Nosotros, los abajo firmantes, le urgimos a elegir el curso de las negociaciones para lograr un mundo libre de armas nucleares. Sería un gran regalo para toda la humanidad y para todas las generaciones futuras.
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Perspectives
Donald Trump, the Bomb, and the Human Future
by David Krieger
Donald Trump and the Bomb are nearly the same age. Which of them will prove to be more destructive remains to be seen, but in combination they are terrifying.
Trump was born on June 14, 1946, less than a year after the first and, thus far, only nuclear weapons were used in war. Given Trump’s surprising recent election as president of the United States, his fate and that of the Bomb are about to become seriously and dangerously intertwined with the fate of all humanity.
On January 20, 2017, Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, and he will be given the nuclear codes and the power to launch the U.S. nuclear arsenal, which is comprised of some 7,000 nuclear weapons. A military officer will always be close to Trump, carrying the nuclear codes in a briefcase known as the “football.” What does this portend for civilization and the future of humanity?
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has championed efforts for nations to make good on their pledges to abolish nuclear weapons. In 2009 he published a five-point proposal for nuclear disarmament, urging nuclear weapons states in particular to fulfill their promises under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to negotiate for the total elimination of nuclear weapons as well as other complementary steps to that end such as banning missiles and space weapons.
At the end of his term this year, there have been some stunning new developments after years of global gridlock and blocked efforts. At the UN General Assembly First Committee for Disarmament, 123 nations voted this October to support negotiations in 2017 to prohibit and ban nuclear weapons, just as the world has already done for biological and chemical weapons.
Giving Thanks to Our Latin American Neighbors Toward a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
by Robert Dodge
Americans gathered around their Thanksgiving tables last week reflecting on what they were thankful for this past year. There was the potential for much angst after a year with significant division in our nation, often emphasizing differences and talk of building walls to separate us from our neighbors. In contrast, at our table, we gave thanks for our Latin American and Caribbean neighbors, celebrating their courage and the Treaty of Tlatelolco, a little-known treaty that was drafted 50 years ago this February creating the world’s first nuclear weapons free zone (NWFZ) and which ultimately served as the model for all subsequent NWFZ to follow.
In the border town of Tijuana, at its historic coastal Friendship Park adjacent the Mexican side of the wall, a monument commemorating the northwestern point of this NWFZ was unveiled this past week with great fanfare, though remarkably no coverage from the neighbor to the north, the United States.
CIA Chief Warns President-elect Trump Against Tearing Up Iran Deal
CIA director John Brennan has warned the incoming Trump administration that scrapping the nuclear deal with Iran would undermine American foreign policy, embolden hard-liners in Iran and threaten to set off an arms race in the Middle East by encouraging other countries to develop nuclear weapons. Brennan said, “I think it would be the height of folly if the next administration were to tear up that agreement.”
Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS), who Donald Trump has selected to take over as head of the CIA, said, “I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
Former Nuclear Weapon Workers Worry About Health Compensation
Over 900,000 people have been employed by the United States over the past seven-plus decades to develop nuclear weapons. The jobs often exposed employees to radiation and toxic chemicals, frequently without their knowledge. Recently, two federal programs meant to help some of these workers — the U.S. Department of Labor’s Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act and the Department of Justice’s Radiation Exposure Compensation Act — have experienced a surge in demand.
Since 2000, over 113,000 people have filed claims under the Department of Labor’s program, at a cost to the government of $13 billion. There also are questions about how the health of the future generation of nuclear workers will be protected. Work is now underway at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to restart an assembly line for plutonium pit production in increasing quantities over the coming decades. With numerous other nuclear modernization programs proposed, tens of thousands of new people could be at risk.
A Canadian diver may have found a long-lost nuclear bomb off the coast of British Columbia. In October, Sean Smyrichinsky went diving to search for sea cucumbers. He spotted a strange object on the ocean floor. He later heard from a local fisherman about the 1950 crash of a U.S. Air Force B-36 bomber, which jettisoned its Mark IV nuclear bomb prior to crashing. The bomb was never found.
The Canadian Royal Navy is now working with Smyrichinsky to try to locate the mysterious object.
The cost of the Fukushima nuclear disaster is now expected to reach 20 trillion yen, or $176 billion. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which previously put the overall cost at ¥11 trillion, is considering passing on a portion of the costs, including for compensation and the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, to consumers via higher electricity prices.
In addition to costs for compensation and decommissioning, the current estimate also includes dealing with seemingly endless streams of radioactive water produced as groundwater flows through the contaminated area on its way to the Pacific Ocean. This huge sum of money does not include costs for interim waste storage facilities, however, meaning the total cost of this nuclear disaster will be even higher.
Nearly 100 nuclear reactors continue to operate in the United States, even as there is no viable plan in sight for safe, permanent storage of nuclear waste, which will remain highly radioactive for millennia. At Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, the plant will still host more than 800 tons of irradiated spent fuel, even after the plant ceases producing electricity in 2019.
The United States government spent billions of dollars trying to prepare a waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but the plan proved extremely expensive, scientifically unsound and politically unworkable. The U.S. Department of Energy is now examining other possibilities, including what they call a “consent-based siting initiative.” This unethical plan would offer financial incentives to economically disadvantaged communities to serve as storage places for highly radioactive waste from around the country. In addition to the fact that this plan would take advantage of vulnerable people, transporting nuclear waste by rail and truck around the nation would pose a great danger to millions of people living along the transportation routes.
Powerful Earthquake Near Fukushima Raised New Tsunami Fears
A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan on November 21, raising new fears among area residents about another tsunami, less than six years after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that killed 18,000 people and caused a triple meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Estimates of the magnitude of the latest earthquake ranged from 6.9 to 7.4, and the Japanese government quickly issued a tsunami warning for the area.
For many people in the region, this latest earthquake brought back terrible memories. “I remembered 3/11,” Kazuhiro Onuki said by phone, referring to the March 11 date of the 2011 disaster. “It really came back. And it was so awful. The sways to the side were huge.”
Trump Likely to Continue Obama’s Plans for Massive Nuclear Modernization
Although policy details from the incoming Trump administration are extremely vague, President-elect Donald Trump is thought to be likely to continue President Obama’s program to “modernize” all aspects of the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a cost of at least $1 trillion over the next 30 years.
The Trump transition website, greatagain.gov, refers briefly to nuclear weapons modernization. The site says that President-elect Trump “will ensure our strategic nuclear triad is modernized to ensure it continues to be an effective deterrent.”
History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the most serious threats that have taken place in the month of December, including the December 10, 1967 detonation of a 20-kiloton nuclear device near Farmington, New Mexico, designed to release natural gas trapped in dense shale deposits.
For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.
Ten Big Nuclear Ideas for the Next President
The Ploughshares Fund has published a new series of essays entitled “10 Big Nuclear Ideas for the Next President.” Authors include Senator Dianne Feinstein, former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, Senator Ed Markey, Rep. Adam Smith, former CIA operative Valerie Plame, and the former commander of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, retired Gen. James Cartwright.
To learn more about the report, including a video of the launch event and a link to download the full report, click here.
World Medical Journal on the Growing Threat of Nuclear War
The World Medical Journal, a publication of the World Medical Association, has published an article entitled “The Growing Threat of Nuclear War and the Role of the Health Community.” The article, co-written by Ira Helfand, Andy Haines, Tilman Ruff, Hans Kristensen, Patricia Lewis, and Zia Mian, outlines the growing risks of nuclear war and the nuclear modernization programs of all nine nuclear-armed nations.
The authors conclude, “The health professions therefore have a central role in advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons, reflecting their ethical responsibility to protect health and prevent illness.”
The Herbert Kurz Business Consortium will present a panel discussion on non-profit management on December 16, 2016. The event is free and open to the public. It will feature panelists from SHARE Africa, the Center for Safety & Change, and the RCC Foundation.
16th Annual Kelly Lecture Features Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 16th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future will feature legendary Hollywood director Oliver Stone and Professor Peter Kuznick, co-authors of the internationally-acclaimed documentary The Untold History of the United States.
The lecture, entitled “Untold History, Uncertain Future,” will take place on February 23, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. Tickets start at $10 and are available here.
For more information about the Kelly Lecture series, click here.
Symposium: The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero
On October 24-25, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation hosted a symposium with leading nuclear disarmament academics and activists. The symposium, entitled “The Fierce Urgency of Nuclear Zero: Changing the Discourse,” was an intimate brainstorming session designed to elicit new and innovative thinking on how to arrive at nuclear zero.
The symposium featured Noam Chomsky, Elaine Scarry, Richard Falk, Hans Kristensen, Daniel Ellsberg, and many more.
Click here to view selected items from the symposium, including video, audio, photos and transcripts.
Peace Literacy, Post-Election
Three days after the 2016 presidential election, NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell visited Naropa University in Colorado to give a Veteran’s Day seminar. In conversations with students, he generated a list of human needs, including the need for purpose, meaning, trust, transcendence, and a sense of belonging. Framing his own narrative in the context of “the need for peace literacy,” Chappell shared his experience growing up in Alabama, the son of a Korean mother and a half-white, half-black father who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
To read more about Paul’s trip to Colorado, click here for a blog post by Candace Walworth, Ph.D., Peace Studies program lead at Naropa.
Quotes
“Nothing could be worse than fear that one has given up too soon and left one effort unexpended which might have saved the world.”
— Jane Addams, American peace activist and 1931 Nobel Peace Laureate. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.
“Your presidency is an unprecedented opportunity for positive change in the world. Reducing the threat of nuclear war and nuclear winter will make the United States safer and richer, and cement your status as a world leader. Please take advantage of this chance to be a real winner.”
— Alan Robock, of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University. Dr. Robock is a primary author of contemporary studies on the climatic effects of nuclear weapons use. To read his full article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, click here.
“If we are to have a nuclear war, we can’t win it. Can we survive it? I don’t know. Nobody knows. That’s the tragedy of it – nobody knows. Anybody that tells you that this many people are going to be killed and this many are going to survive doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
— Admiral Gene La Rocque, who passed away in October 2016 at the age of 98. To read NAPF President David Krieger’s remembrance of Admiral La Rocque, click here.
