Category: Sunflower

Avoiding the Ticking Time Bomb of Nukes in North Korea

by Richard Falk and David Krieger

Alarmingly, tensions between the United States and North Korea have again reached crisis proportions. The unpredictable leaders of both countries are pursuing extremely provocative and destabilizing patterns of behavior. Where such dangerous interactions lead no one can now foresee. The risk of this tense situation spiraling out of control should not be minimized.

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

U.S. Prepares to Confront Nuclear Ban Treaty with Smart Bombs

by Rick Wayman

On May 23, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a press release celebrating President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget. DOE specifically lauded the proposed “$10.2 billion for Weapons Activities to maintain and enhance the safety, security, and effectiveness of our nuclear weapons enterprise.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, Ambassador Elayne Whyte of Costa Rica released a draft of a treaty banning nuclear weapons. Over 130 nations have participated in the ban treaty negotiations thus far. A final treaty text is expected by early July.

No one is surprised at President Trump’s proposed funding for nuclear weapons activities; in fact, it is largely a continuation of the U.S. nuclear “modernization” program that began under President Obama. What is alarming, however, is the tacit admission by the Department of Energy that it is not simply maintaining current U.S. nuclear warheads until such time as they are eliminated. Rather, it is enhancing the “effectiveness” of nuclear weapons by incorporating new military capabilities into new weapons expected to be active through the final decades of the 21st century.

To read more, click here.

Fire at Plutonium Facility Puts Future of Nuclear Weapons Lab in Question

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hold a hearing on June 7 to discuss the future of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the United States’ main nuclear weapons facilities. A fire broke out at a Los Alamos plutonium facility in mid-April. The Board is unsure whether Los Alamos is competent to continue to operate and handle increasing quantities of plutonium in the coming years.

Jay Coghlan, Executive Director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said, “Fattening up our already bloated nuclear weapons stockpile is not going to improve our national security. New Mexicans desperately need better funded schools and health care, not expanded plutonium pit production that will cause more pollution and threaten our scarce water resources.”

“Fire Raises Questions About Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Safety,” Associated Press, May 27, 2017.

North Korea Accuses U.S. and South Korea of Nuclear Bomb-Dropping Drill

North Korea lashed out at the U.S. and South Korea for conducting what it calls a “nuclear bomb-dropping drill” with B-1B strategic bombers on May 29. North Korea claimed the B-1B bombers, which are currently deployed to Guam, flew over South Korea and approached an area 80 km east of Gangneung, an eastern city near the Military Demarcation Line that serves as the border between the two Koreas.

Contrary to North Korea’s claim, the B-1B bombers no longer carry nuclear weapons, though they were nuclear-capable for a time. According to the U.S. Air Force, the conversion to an all-conventional mission for B-1 aircraft was completed in March 2011.

A report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, “Such military provocation of the U.S. imperialists is a dangerous reckless racket for bringing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a war.”

Jesse Johnson, “North Korea Blasts South for ‘Nuclear Bomb-Dropping’ Drill with U.S. B-1B Strategic Bomber,” Japan Times, May 30, 2017.

Draft Ban Treaty Released Ahead of Second Round of Negotiations

On May 22, a United Nations disarmament panel released the first draft of a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. Negotiations among 130+ nations at the United Nations will resume on June 15 in New York. The agenda currently calls for a final treaty to be prepared by July 7. The United States and the world’s eight other nuclear-armed nations have thus far boycotted the negotiations.

The draft treaty would commit signers to “never use nuclear weapons” and never “develop, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

Representatives of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will be actively participating in the negotiations at the UN in the coming weeks.

Rick Gladstone, “UN Panel Releases Draft of Treaty to Ban Nuclear Arms,” The New York Times, May 22, 2017.

Highly Scripted Missile Defense Test Called a “Success”

On May 30, the United States conducted a test of its Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. A mock enemy missile was launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and an interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The test, which cost $244 million, was hailed as a “success” by missile defense proponents because the interceptor missile destroyed the mock incoming missile.

However, the GMD system is far from having proven itself as a viable system that can work under real-world conditions. Operators knew the date and time of the “enemy” launch, as well as the exact location from which the enemy missile would be fired. They also knew the exact specs of the enemy missile, enabling them to better anticipate its trajectory. The weather was clear, and the test took place during daylight hours. Few, if any, of these conditions are likely to be present in a real-world scenario. This makes any claim of this test being a “success” an exaggeration at best.

David Willman, “Pentagon Successfully Tests Missile Defense System Amid Rising Concerns About North Korea,” Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2017.

Americans Who Can Find North Korea on a Map Are More Likely to Prefer Diplomacy

A new experiment conducted in April reveals some surprising correlations between one’s political preferences and geographical literacy.

Those who were able to identify North Korea on a map tended to favor nonviolent, diplomatic approaches towards the country. Not surprisingly, they were also more likely to disapprove of direct military engagement in the region. These results tell us that in order to achieve peace, we must encourage younger generations to look outward rather than inward.

Kevin Quealy, “If Americans Can Find North Korea on a Map, They’re More Likely to Prefer Diplomacy,” The New York Times, May 14, 2017.

North Korea Test Fired Three Missiles in May

North Korea conducted three missile tests in the month of May. They were all short- or medium-range ballistic missiles. While North Korea does not yet possess a missile capable of reaching the United States, its missiles do pose a threat to U.S. troops in the region and U.S. allies such as South Korea and Japan.

Experts widely believe that North Korea is seeking the capability to strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon as a deterrent to regime change. North Korea has cited the examples of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Moammar Gadaffi in Libya as two leaders who gave up their nuclear weapons programs and were taken down by the U.S.

Joshua Berlinger, “North Korea’s Missile Tests: By the Numbers,” CNN, May 29, 2017.

New ICBM Estimated to Cost $85 Billion and Climbing

The latest cost estimates for the United States to field a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system is up to $85 billion, with the estimated price tag likely to rise even further as the program progresses. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry has called for the elimination of the ICBM leg of the nuclear triad. Perry said, “The ICBM system is outdated, risky and unnecessary. Basically, it can bring about the end of civilization with a false alarm. It’s a liability because we can easily achieve deterrence without it.”

W.J. Hennigan and Ralph Vartabedian, “Upgrading U.S. Nuclear Missiles, as Russia and China Modernize, Would Cost $85 Billion. Is it Time to Quit the ICBM Race?” Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2017.

Radioactive Waste Tunnel Collapses While U.S. Spends Billions on New Nuclear Weapons

On May 9, a tunnel in which radioactive waste is stored collapsed at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State. This latest accident is a stark reminder of the ongoing risks presented by nuclear facilities within the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has estimated that it will cost $32 billion to completely decontaminate and demolish DOE’s old, unused nuclear weapons facilities.

Meanwhile, in the budget proposal published by the Trump Administration on May 23, DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration saw a $1 billion increase over last year, up to $10.2 billion. Instead of focusing on dealing with the myriad messes already created in the process of producing nuclear weapons, the U.S. is choosing to create additional weapons, which will inevitably lead to more waste and more environmental issues.

Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, said, “The longer you wait to deal with this problem, the more dangerous it becomes.”

Tom James, “Hanford Nuclear Site Accident Puts Focus on Aging U.S. Facilities,” Reuters, May 12, 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 June, including the start of the Korean War on June 25, 1950. The U.S. threatened to use nuclear weapons during the Korean War. The war ended with an armistice agreement, and no peace treaty was ever signed.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

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

Accountability Audit

The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) has published a new report entitled “Accountability Audit.” The report examines the extraordinary spending at Department of Energy nuclear facilities and examines ways to reduce risks and save billions of dollars across the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.

To download a copy of the report, click here.

We’re Edging Closer to Nuclear War

What’s the probability of nuclear war? According to experts, it may be higher than you think. A panel of experts assembled by the popular website Five Thirty Eight seeks to answer some of the toughest questions about nuclear weapons.

Click here to read the full story.

NAPF Representatives Lobby Congress

Five representatives of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation traveled to Washington, DC in late May to take part in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability’s 29th annual DC Days event. Director of Programs Rick Wayman, interns Kristian Rolland and Sarah Dolan, and Board members Robert Laney and Mark Hamilton together conducted 43 meetings with Congressional and Administration offices.

In Washington, NAPF was advocating for reductions in the nuclear weapons budget, a halt to specific nuclear weapon modernization programs, Congressional co-sponsorship of a bill restricting the first use of nuclear weapons, and an increased commitment to environmental cleanup of contaminated nuclear weapon production sites.

Final Negotiations for a Nuclear Ban Treaty

NAPF Director of Programs Rick Wayman and Board Chair Robert Laney will travel to New York in June to participate in the final round of negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons. The negotiations will take place at the United Nations from June 15 to July 7.

NAPF is also a partner of the Women’s March to Ban the Bomb, which will take place in New York City on Saturday, June 17.

Poetry Contest Deadline is July 1

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation invites people of all ages from around the world to submit poems to the Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry contest. This annual series of awards encourages poets to explore and illuminate positive visions of peace and the human spirit. The Poetry Awards include three age categories: Adult, Youth 13-18, and Youth 12 & Under. The deadline for entries is July 1, 2017. The winner of the adult category will receive a $1,000 prize, while the winners in the two youth categories will receive $200 prizes.

For more information and to read previous years’ winning poems, click here.

“When you can make people believe absurdities, you can make them commit atrocities.”

— Voltaire, French Enlightenment philosopher. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.

“A conflict in North Korea…would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes…. The bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”

— U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, speaking about the conflict between the United States and North Korea.

“It’s an extraordinary question when you think about it – would you order the indiscriminate killing of millions of people? Would you risk such extensive contamination of the planet that no life could exist across large parts of the world? If circumstances arose where that was a real option, it would represent complete and cataclysmic failure. It would mean world leaders had already triggered a spiral of catastrophe for humankind.”

— Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK Labour Party, responding to a question about whether, if Prime Minister, he would be willing to use nuclear weapons.

David Krieger
Kristian Rolland
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

A Better Mousetrap?

by David Krieger

Albert Einstein noted, “Mankind invented the atomic bomb, but no mouse would ever construct a mousetrap.”

We humans have created the equivalent of a mousetrap for ourselves. And we’ve constructed tens of thousands of them over the seven decades of the Nuclear Age.

In the mid-1980s, the world reached a high of 70,000 nuclear weapons, with more than 95 percent of them in the arsenals of the United States and Soviet Union. Since then, the number has fallen to under 15,000. While this downward trend is positive, the world’s nuclear countries possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the human species many times over.

To read more, click here.

Testimony of a Hiroshima Survivor

by Fujimori Toshiki

I was 1 year and 4 months-old when the bomb was dropped. I was sick that day, so my mother was heading to the hospital with me on her back when the bomb was dropped. We were 2.3 km from the hypocenter. Fortunately, a two-story house between the hypocenter and us prevented us from directly being exposed to the heat. Yet, we were thrown all the way to the edge of the river bank. My mother, with me in her arms, managed to get to the nearby mountain called Ushitayama. Our family members were in different locations at the time of the bombing, but everyone escaped to the same mountain of Ushitayama, except for my fourth-elder sister. For many days that followed, my parents and my sisters kept going back to the area near the hypocenter to look for my fourth-eldest sister, who was missing. We never found her. We never found her body either.

In the meantime, I had my entire body covered with bandages, with only eyes, nose, and mouth uncovered. Everybody thought I would die over time. Yet, I survived. It is a miracle. I am here at the UN, asking for an abolition of nuclear weapons. I am convinced that this is a mission I am given as a survivor of the atomic-bomb.

To read more, click here.

Message to the UN Conference Negotiating a Nuclear Ban Treaty

by Pope Francis

If we take into consideration the principal threats to peace and security with their many dimensions in this multipolar world of the twenty-first century as, for example, terrorism, asymmetrical conflicts, cybersecurity, environmental problems, poverty, not a few doubts arise regarding the inadequacy of nuclear deterrence as an effective response to such challenges. These concerns are even greater when we consider the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences that would follow from any use of nuclear weapons, with devastating, indiscriminate and uncontainable effects, over time and space.  Similar cause for concern arises when examining the waste of resources spent on nuclear issues for military purposes, which could instead be used for worthy priorities like the promotion of peace and integral human development, as well as the fight against poverty, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We need also to ask ourselves how sustainable is a stability based on fear, when it actually increases fear and undermines relationships of trust between peoples.

To read more, click here.

U.S. Ambassador Leads Pro-Nuclear Protest Outside UN Ban Treaty Negotiations

On March 27, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley led a press conference in protest of the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Toward Their Total Elimination. Ambassador Haley spoke briefly at the press conference along with UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft and French Deputy Ambassador Alexis Lamek.

The United States strongly opposed the idea of negotiating a nuclear ban treaty when it was under discussion in 2016 during the Obama Administration. Staunch U.S. opposition to a ban treaty is now continuing under the Trump Administration.

Somini Sengupta and Rick Gladstone, “United States and Allies Protest UN Talks to Ban Nuclear Weapons,” The New York Times, March 27, 2017.

Head of U.S. Strategic Command Opposes Vision of a Nuclear Weapons-Free World

Gen. John Hyten, head of United States Strategic Command, told reporters at the annual meeting of the Military Reporters and Editors Association that nuclear weapons make the world safer. Gen. Hyten said, “Can I imagine a world without nuclear weapons? Yes, I can. That’s a world I didn’t like.”

He criticized the effort underway at the United Nations to achieve a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, saying that nuclear weapons act as a deterrent and keep the peace.

Tom O’Connor, “Top U.S. Military Commander Says Nuclear Weapons Make the World Safer,” Newsweek, March 31, 2017.

Watch Hundreds of U.S. Nuclear Tests on YouTube

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has released dozens of videos showing U.S. nuclear weapons tests. The footage was captured from tests conducted from 1945 to 1962 in the Marshall Islands and Nevada. LLNL restored and declassified the films, many of which were deteriorating.

Dr. Gregory Spriggs, a weapons physicist in charge of the project at Livermore, said, “I think that if we capture the history of this and show what the force of these weapons are and how much devastation they can wreak, then maybe people will be reluctant to use them.”

Christine Hauser, “U.S. Nuclear Weapons Tests Come to YouTube,” The New York Times, March 17, 2017.

Scientists Urge a Ban on Nuclear Weapons

Over 3,600 scientists have signed an open letter urging the United Nations to complete negotiations on a new treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. The open letter, which includes signatures of 28 Nobel laureates, states, “We scientists bear a special responsibility for nuclear weapons, since it was scientists who invented them and discovered that their effects are even more horrific than first thought.”

The open letter was organized by the Future of Life Institute, and was presented to Her Excellency Ms. Elayne Whyte Gómez of Costa Rica, President of the ban treaty negotiations at the United Nations.

Sarah Marquart, “The UN Is Currently Meeting to Negotiate a Complete, Global Ban on Nuclear Weapons,” Futurism, March 27, 2017.

U.S. Court Hears Oral Arguments in Marshall Islands’ Nuclear Disarmament Case

On March 15, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments from the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the United States in the Marshall Islands’ nuclear disarmament lawsuit. The RMI filed suit in 2014 against the United States for breaches of Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires good faith negotiations for an end to the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament.

Oral arguments before the three-judge panel centered around the United States’ preliminary objections, as opposed to the merits of the case. A ruling by the Ninth Circuit is expected in the coming months.

Helen Christophi, “Ninth Circuit Hesitant to Get Into Nuclear Disarmament,” Courthouse News Service, March 17, 2017.

Russia Plans Cuts to Military Budget

Russia appears to have planned a cut of over 25% to its military budget next year. Military news outlet IHS Jane’s calls this “the largest cut to military expenditure in the country since the early 1990s.” The cuts are likely due to a combination of the lower price of oil and Western sanctions against Russia.

After these cuts take effect, Russia’s total annual military budget will be roughly the same as the increase in the U.S. military budget proposed by President Trump ($54 billion).

Danielle Ryan, “So Much for the Russian Threat: Putin Slashes Defense Spending While Trump Plans Massive Buildup,” Salon, March 19, 2017.

U.S. to Reconsider Eventual Goal of Nuclear Disarmament

Christopher Ford, senior director on the National Security Council for weapons of mass destruction and counter-proliferation, told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace conference that the Trump administration is reconsidering the long-standing U.S. goal of eventual global nuclear disarmament.

Ford implied that because of the U.S. plans to “modernize” its nuclear arsenal and production infrastructure, “It’s not totally obvious that we can continue to have it both ways in that respect for the foreseeable future.”

Rachel Oswald, “NSC Official: Trump May Abandon Goal of Nuclear Disarmament,” Roll Call, March 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 April, including the April 4, 1949 creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

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

Toward a Fundamental Change in Nuclear Weapons Policy

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is co-sponsoring a conference in Washington, DC on April 27 entitled “Toward a Fundamental Change in Nuclear Weapons Policy.” The conference will be convened by Soka Gakkai International-USA and will take place at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center.

Current realities call for a transformational change in nuclear weapons policy. This all-day conference will bring together scientists, policy experts, and religious leaders to discuss what must be done to pave the way for a nuclear weapons-free world.

The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For more information and to register, click here.

Intensive Summer Program: Hiroshima and Peace

Hiroshima City University will offer its intensive summer program “Hiroshima and Peace” to students from abroad and in Japan. The course aims to share recent advances of peace studies and to underline the importance of world peace in our age.

The Hiroshima and Peace program provides participants with an opportunity to think seriously about the importance of peacemaking in the world. The program consists of a series of lectures by specialists in different fields related to peace studies, discussions, and several featured programs, including testimony from a survivor of the atomic bombing, visits to the Atomic-bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Museum, and participation in the Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6th.

For more information about the course, click here.

Marshall Islands Student Association Project

The Marshall Islands Students Association (MISA) in Fiji is asking for members of the public to join them in solidarity as they urge Pacific leaders to prioritize Sustainable Development Goal 14.1 regarding land-based pollutants, which has been pushed to the chopping block by many technical agencies citing lack of data.

A dome located on Runit Island in Enewatak Atoll holds a portion of the most toxic and contaminated garbage generated by 67 nuclear and thermonuclear bomb tests conducted by the U.S. on Enewetak and Bikini Atoll. The rest of the fallout will remain spread across the islands for tens of thousands of years. This is not only a concern for the Marshall Islands, but one that concerns all in the region. Nuclear contamination does not respect any border or boundaries.

MISA is calling for submissions in solidarity through poetry, dance, art and photos. For more information, visit the MISA Facebook page.

Letter in The New York Times

The New York Times published a letter to the editor written by Rick Wayman, NAPF’s Director of Programs and Operations, on March 15. Wayman wrote the letter in response to a report about calls for Europe to develop its own nuclear arsenal.

He wrote in part, “Those in Europe arguing in favor of a continental nuclear arsenal are heavy on politics, but glaringly light on law and humanity.”

To read the full letter, click here.

Video Featuring Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 16th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future featured legendary Hollywood director Oliver Stone and Professor Peter Kuznick, co-authors of the internationally-acclaimed documentary The Untold History of the United States.

The event, entitled “Untold History, Uncertain Future,” took place on February 23 at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. A video of the event is now available to watch for free on YouTube. Click here for the video.

NAPF Participates in Ban Treaty Negotiations

Numerous representatives of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation participated in the first round of the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Toward Their Total Elimination, which took place from March 27-31 at UN headquarters in New York. NAPF Director of Programs Rick Wayman chaired a side event on March 28 entitled “U.S. Nuclear Modernization Under President Trump: Implications for the Ban Treaty Process.”

Wayman also wrote an article for the Nuclear Ban Daily, a publication by Reaching Critical Will that was distributed to NGOs and delegates on each day of the negotiations. His article was entitled “‘Modernization’ Violates Every Likely Prohibition in Ban Treaty.” To read the article, click here.

Peace Poetry Contest Now Accepting Entries

April marks National Poetry Month. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s annual Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry contest is accepting entries through July 1, 2017. The awards encourage poets to explore and illuminate positive visions of peace and the human spirit. The Poetry Awards include three age categories: Adult, Youth 13-18, and Youth 12 & Under.

The contest is open to people worldwide. Poems must be original, unpublished, and in English.

For more information on the contest, including instructions on how to enter, click here. To read the winning poems from past years, click here.

Peace Literacy in an Age of Anger

NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell recently visited Corvallis, Oregon, to deliver a workshop on Peace Literacy. The Corvallis Advocate published an article about Chappell’s Peace Literacy concept.

In her introduction of Paul K. Chappell at the Oregon State University (OSU) event, Allison Davis White-Eyes—OSU’s Assistant Vice Provost and Director of Diversity and Cultural Engagement—described how, “It has become more clear that we must find a way to speak to one another, to listen to one another [and] to reach across the great ideological divide of our country. The time is now.”

To read the full article, click here.

“Poetry is an act of peace. Peace goes into the making of a poet as flour goes into the making of bread.”

— Pablo Neruda. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.

“There is no such thing as a limited nuclear war, and the United States should be seeking to raise the threshold for nuclear use, not blur that threshold by building additional so-called low-yield weapons.”

— Twelve U.S. Senators in a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

“We are going to be having an increase in the movements of weapons in coming years and we should be worried. We always have to assume the worst-case scenario when we are hauling nuclear weapons around the country.”

— Robert Alvarez, in a Los Angeles Times story about the troubled federal agency tasked with transporting U.S. nuclear weapons around the country.

David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

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.

To read more, click here.

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?

To read more, click here.

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.

William Broad, “Top Scientists Urge Trump to Abide by Iran Nuclear Deal,” The New York Times, January 2, 2017.

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.

Ben Westcott, “Duped By Fake News Story, Pakistani Minister Threatens Nuclear War With Israel,” CNN, December 26, 2016.

Threat of Hacking at Nuclear Plants Is Growing

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.

Edith Lederer, “UN: Threat of a Hacking Attack on Nuclear Plants Is Growing,” Associated Press, December 16, 2016.

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.

Louise Moon, “Pentagon Rebukes North Korea Over Claim It Will Test Missile that Could Reach U.S.,” The Telegraph, January 2, 2017.

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.”

David Willman, “The Nation’s Missile Defense System has Serious Flaws. So Why Is the Pentagon Moving to Expand It?” Los Angeles Times, December 13, 2016.

Cost for Cleanup at Hanford Rises Yet Again

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.

Ralph Vartabedian, “The Price Tag for Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste at Hanford Site Just Went Up Another $4.5 Billion,” Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2016.

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.

James Glanz, “Rick Perry, as Energy Secretary, May Be Pressed to Resume Nuclear Tests,” The New York Times, December 27, 2016.

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 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.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

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.

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.

To add your name to the open letter, click here.

Peace Leadership: 2016 Year In Review

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.

“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.

David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

2016 Evening for Peace Introduction

by David Krieger

By training and profession, Noam Chomsky is one of the world’s leading linguists. By choice and commitment, he is one of the world’s leading advocates of peace with justice. His ongoing analysis of the global dangers confronting humanity is unsurpassed. He is a man who unreservedly speaks truth to power, as well as to the People. Like Socrates, he is a gentle gadfly who does not refrain from challenging authority and authoritarian mindsets.

He is a man who punctures hubris with wisdom. He confronts conformity with critical thinking. He is a dedicated peace educator and his classroom is the world. The Boston Globe calls him “America’s most useful citizen.”

It is an honor to have him with us, and it is my great pleasure, on behalf of the Directors and members of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, to present Noam Chomsky with the Foundation’s 2016 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award.

To read more, click here.

Revolt

by Ray Acheson

The adoption of resolution L.41, establishing a conference in 2017 to negotiate a legally binding treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, represents a meaningful advancement towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. It also represents a revolt of the vast majority of states against the violence, intimidation, and injustice perpetuated by those supporting these weapons of mass destruction.

Revolt, wrote philosopher Albert Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus, is “one of the only coherent philosophical positions…. It challenges the world anew every second.” Camus explored the theme of revolt across many books and novels, finding that struggle not only “gives value to life” but also that it is an obligation, even in the face of adversity, power, and overwhelming odds.

The act of prohibiting nuclear weapons is an act of nonviolent, positive, courageous revolt.

To read more, click here.

Nuclear Weapons – The Time for Abolition Is Now

by Robert Dodge

Nuclear weapons present the greatest public health and existential threat to our survival every moment of every day. Yet the United States and world nuclear nations stand in breach of the 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty which commits these nations to work in good faith to end the arms race and to achieve nuclear disarmament. The rest of the world is finally standing up to this threat to their survival and that of the planet. They are taking matters into their own hands and refusing to be held hostage by the nuclear nations. They will no longer be bullied into sitting back and waiting for the nuclear states to make good on empty promises.

At the United Nations on October 27, 123 nations voted to commence negotiations next year on a new treaty to prohibit the possession of nuclear weapons. Despite President Obama’s own words in his 2009 pledge to seek the security of a world free of nuclear weapons, the U.S. voted “no” and led the opposition to this treaty.

To read more, click here.

United Nations Committee Calls for Outlawing Nuclear Weapons

On October 27, the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for negotiations in 2017 on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.” The vote was 123 nations in favor, 38 opposed, and 16 abstaining.

The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and Israel – all of which possess nuclear weapons – opposed the resolution. China, India and Pakistan – also nuclear-armed states – abstained. Most notable among the world’s nine nuclear-armed nations was North Korea, which voted in favor of the resolution.

The resolution was originally sponsored by Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa, but had 55 co-sponsors when it came to a vote. The resolution will now go to a full UN General Assembly vote in December. According to the resolution, negotiations will take place in March, June and July of 2017.

“United Nations Committee Calls for Outlawing Nuclear Weapons,” Associated Press, October 27, 2016.

U.S. Nuclear-Armed Submarine Visits Guam

The USS Pennsylvania, one of the United States’ 14 nuclear-armed submarines, is visiting Guam. A U.S. Navy statement said, “This specific visit to Guam reflects the United States’ commitment to its allies in the Indo-Asia-Pacific” region. Other countries in the region – most notably China and North Korea – will undoubtedly view this overt activity with nuclear weapons to be a direct threat.

The USS Pennsylvania carries 24 Trident II D-5 missiles, each of which can carry multiple independently targeted nuclear warheads. Each nuclear warhead on board is many times more powerful than the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Barbara Starr and Brad Lendon, “U.S. Sends Message to Adversaries with Nuclear Sub Visit, Drills,” CNN, November 1, 2016.

Air Force Wins Golden Fleece Award for Refusing to Disclose Costs of New Nuclear Bomber

Taxpayers for Common Sense has awarded the U.S. Air Force the “Golden Fleece Award” for refusing to release the overall costs of the B-21 bomber program. The B-21 is intended to be a new delivery vehicle for the Air Force’s nuclear weapons.

Refusing to release the overall costs, the Air Force argues that doing so would give too much information about the proposed nuclear bomber to U.S. adversaries. Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “I am having a difficult time understanding how the public disclosure of a single contract award value funded from an unclassified budget request is going to give the enemy more information on the capabilities of a new bomber than what the Air Force has already disclosed. All I can see is that keeping it a secret deprives the American taxpayer of the transparency and accountability they deserve.”

“Golden Fleece: The Air Force B-21 Raider Attack on Your Wallet,” Taxpayers for Common Sense, October 4, 2016.

Watchdog Groups Call for New Environmental Impact Statement at Nuclear Weapons Facility

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and Nuclear Watch New Mexico sent a letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz calling for a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Y-12 is a manufacturing plant that produces the thermonuclear cores (secondaries) for U.S. nuclear warheads and bombs.

In August 2016, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) gave itself the green light to proceed with construction of the Uranium Processing Facility, a bomb plant originally intended to replace aging facilities. However, the letter notes, a new Environmental Impact Statement is required when “there are substantial changes to the proposal or significant new circumstances of information relevant to environmental concerns.”

“This is about safety — protection of workers, the public and the environment,” said OREPA coordinator Ralph Hutchison. “When it comes to nuclear weapons materials, there can be no shortcuts. They (NNSA) have changed their plan significantly, and the law requires them to re-do the environmental analysis. It’s as simple as that.”

“Watchdogs Call for New Environmental Impact Study for Nuclear Bomb Plant,” Nuclear Watch New Mexico, October 28, 2016.

Russia Suspends Nuclear Agreements with U.S.

Russia has backed out of three nuclear agreements with the United States in the latest indications of rising tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations. Russia and the United States together possess over 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Perhaps the most significant agreement that the Russians have backed out of is the plan to “dispose of” 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Russia also backed out of an agreement to cooperate on nuclear- and energy-related scientific research, as well as an agreement to work together to convert six Russian research reactors to use low-enriched uranium.

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush unilaterally abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which has led to the development and deployment of U.S. missile defense systems in Europe.

Lidia Kelly, “Russia Suspends Nuclear Agreement, Ends Uranium Research Pact with United States,” Reuters, October 5, 2016.

Sequestration Could Threaten Nuclear Modernization Plans

Frank Klotz, head of the United States’ National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), stated that if Congress does not ease budget caps for the coming year, “all bets are off” for nuclear weapons modernization programs. Klotz was advocating for an exemption to budget restraints, similar to what NNSA has received in the past two budget cycles. NNSA has oversight of the development, maintenance and disposal of nuclear warheads.

The United States is in the midst of a planned 30-year, $1 trillion “modernization” effort to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, delivery systems and production infrastructure. Klotz said, “God forbid if sequestration rears its ugly head again, [all bets are] doubly off.”

Aaron Mehta, “NNSA Head: ‘All Bets Are Off’ for Warhead Modernization Under Sequestration,” Defense News, October 4, 2016.

Marshall Islands Can’t Sue the World’s Nuclear Powers, International Court of Justice Rules

On October 5, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court, declared that the Court does not have jurisdiction in lawsuits filed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands against the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan. The decisions focused only on the question of jurisdiction and did not address the merits of the cases.

The judges voted 8-8 on the question of jurisdiction in the case of the Marshall Islands vs. the United Kingdom. Judge Ronny Abraham of France, President of the Court, issued the casting vote in favor of the United Kingdom’s position that the ICJ lacks jurisdiction.

Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent of the Marshall Islands in the cases, said, ““We are extremely disappointed. The court is very divided and turned down the case on a microformality. It’s difficult to understand that it finds no jurisdiction even when the parties have ‘opposite views.’ The opposing views on nuclear weapons are obvious to anyone.”

Marlise Simons, “Marshall Islands Can’t Sue the World’s Nuclear Powers, UN Court Rules,” The New York Times, October 5, 2016.

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 most serious threats that have taken place in the month of November, including the November 24, 1961 incident in which all communication links between Strategic Air Command and NORAD went dead, leading officials to assume a full-scale Soviet nuclear attack was underway.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

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

My Journey at the Nuclear Brink

On October 24, 2016, William Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, delivered a lecture at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City. The event, co-sponsored by Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, All Souls Nuclear Disarmament Task Force, and Peace Action New York State, was based on Secretary Perry’s recent book entitled My Journey at the Nuclear Brink.

Click here to access a video of the event.

Nuclear Disarmament: The Missing Link in Multilateralism

In a new paper for Chatham House, Patricia Lewis, Beyza Unal and Sasan Aghlani outline the connections between nuclear disarmament and some of the key issues facing humanity today. So far, enormous effort has been invested in tackling these challenges; for example, in climate change prevention and mitigation, socio-economic development, and establishing and implementing the rule of law. Furthermore, recent efforts over the protection of cultural heritage in conflict, stemming the rise of terrorism, developing cybersecurity, understanding gendered impacts and addressing urgent public health issues have all benefited from energized governmental and non-governmental diplomatic actions.

To download a copy of the paper, click here.

Science and Society

An updated and enlarged edition of the book Science and Society, by John Scales Avery, will be published this month by World Scientific. The book was developed by Avery as a text for a class he was teaching at the University of Copenhagen about the vast social consequences of scientific and technological progress. The sections of the course dealing with modern times addressed topics such as genetic engineering, nuclear weapons, sustainability and climate change.

For more information and a link to order the book at a discount, click here.

Noam Chomsky Receives NAPF Distinguished Peace Leadership Award

Noam Chomsky was honored with NAPF’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award at this year’s Evening for Peace on October 23 in Santa Barbara, California.

A capacity crowd of over 300 people, including 100 students from local high schools and universities, attended the event. Video and photos of the event will be available here by mid-November.

Thanks to all of the generous sponsors, attendees and volunteers who made this memorable event possible.

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.

There was general agreement that a nuclear war poses an existential threat to humankind and that the warning sirens are now sounding.  There is hope that such a war can be avoided, but that hope, while necessary, is not sufficient to end the nuclear threat now facing humanity and other forms of complex life on the planet.  Hope must be joined with action to end the nuclear weapons era in order to abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us.

Click here to view selected items from the symposium. In the coming weeks, we will be adding more photos, video and audio of symposium sessions.

Peace Literacy Skills at Quantico Marine Corps Base Middle/High School

At the Quantico Marine Corps Base Middle/High School in Quantico, VA, the Parent Educator Association (PEA) invited NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell to address their Model UN class and an assembly of 8th grade and high school students, teachers, and administrators.

Helene Brown, PEA chair and married to a Marine with two sons in the school, said, “Paul really impressed them with how different our world is today in terms of freedom and equality, providing us hope for our future. Many were also impressed by how different things can be even in different parts of the world.”

“As a child in school, I spent many years learning to read and write, but I did not learn peace literacy skills,” Chappell said. “The ideals and skills I use to wage peace I learned in the military.”

To read more about Paul’s recent trip, click here.

“We must teach an elemental truth: that status and prestige belong not to those who possess nuclear weapons, but to those who reject them.”

— Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.

“As others prepare for war, we must prepare for peace. We must answer the mindless call to arms with a thoughtful, soulful call to resist the coming build up for war. A new, resolute peace movement must arise, become visible and challenge those who would make war inevitable.”

— Dennis Kucinich, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I am deeply convinced that a nuclear weapon-free world is not a utopia, but an imperative necessity. We need to constantly remind world leaders of this goal and of their commitment. As long as nuclear weapons exist, there is a danger that someday they will be used: as a result either of accident or technical failure, or of evil intent of man – an insane person or terrorist. We must therefore reaffirm the goal of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons.”

— Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, in a speech marking the 30th anniversary of the Reykjavik Summit.

David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman

The Simple Act of Pushing a Button

by David Krieger

“Since the appearance of visible life on Earth, 380 million years had to elapse in order for a butterfly to learn how to fly, 180 million years to create a rose with no other commitment than to be beautiful, and four geological eras in order for us human beings to be able to sing better than birds, and to be able to die from love. It is not honorable for the human talent, in the golden age of science, to have conceived the way for such an ancient and colossal process to return to the nothingness from which it came through the simple act of pushing a button.”

I recently came across this quotation by the great Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature. The quotation is from a 1986 speech by Garcia Marquez entitled “The Cataclysm of Damocles.” In the short quotation, he captures what needs to be said about nuclear weapons succinctly, poetically and beautifully. With a few deft literary brushstrokes, he shows that the journey of life from nothingness to now could be ended with no more than “the simple act of pushing a button.”

To read more, click here.

Banning Nuclear Weapons Is Crucial for Global Health

by Ira Helfand, Tilman Ruff, Michael Marmot, Frances Hughes and Michael Moore

Before this year ends, the United Nations general assembly can take a decisive step toward ending one of the most urgent threats to public health and human survival in the world today. UN member states can and must mandate negotiations on a new treaty that prohibits nuclear weapons.

Banning and eliminating nuclear weapons is a high global health priority. The general assembly has the opportunity to move us towards this critical goal. It must not fail to act.

To read more, click here.

Statement from the Holy See on Nuclear Abolition Day

by Archbishop Bernadito Auza

My delegation believes that nuclear arms offer a false sense of security, and that the uneasy peace promised by nuclear deterrence is a tragic illusion. Nuclear weapons cannot create for us a stable and secure world. Peace and international stability cannot be founded on mutually assured destruction or on the threat of total annihilation. The Holy See believes that peace cannot be solely the maintaining of a balance of power. On the contrary, as Pope Francis affirmed, “Peace must be built on justice, socio-economic development, freedom, respect for human rights, the participation of all in public affairs and the building of trust between peoples.”

Lasting peace thus requires that all must strive for progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament. For our own good and that of future generations, we have no reasonable or moral option other than the abolition of nuclear weapons.

To read more, click here.

Non-Nuclear States Push for Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons

On September 28, six countries introduced a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly urging the commencement of negotiations in 2017 for a treaty banning nuclear weapons. The six countries – Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa – are urging countries “to negotiate a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons.”

The draft resolution “calls upon States participating in the conference to make their best endeavours to conclude as soon as possible a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.”

Many nuclear-armed nations have expressed outright animosity toward this nuclear disarmament effort. Anita Friedt, a high-ranking official in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, said that the United States believes “pursuit of such a ban is unrealistic and simply impractical” and “could actually end up harming” broader, tangible efforts toward disarmament.

A vote is expected around the end of October.

Jamey Keaten, “Non-Nuclear States Advance Push for UN Treaty to Ban Nukes,” Associated Press, September 28, 2016.

UN Security Council Adopts U.S.-Drafted Resolution Against Nuclear Testing

On September 23, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution introduced by the United States calling on all countries to end nuclear weapons testing. The resolution coincides with the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the U.S. and a few other nuclear-capable countries have not ratified.

Republicans in the U.S. Senate expressed outrage over the move, saying that it aimed to sidestep the authority of the Senate to ratify international treaties. Many Republicans threatened to withhold the $32 million per year that the U.S. contributes to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization if the vote went ahead.

Kambiz Foroohar, “UN Adopts U.S.-Drafted Plea for Stalled Nuclear Test Treaty,” Bloomberg, September 23, 2016.

Sen. Markey and Rep. Lieu Introduce Bills on No First Use

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) have introduced bills into the Senate and House of Representatives that would eliminate the ability of the President to conduct a nuclear first strike without an explicit declaration of war from Congress.

Rep. Lieu said, “Our Founding Fathers would be rolling over in their graves if they knew the President could launch a massive, potentially civilization-ending military strike without authorization from Congress. Our Constitution created a government based on checks and balances and gave the power to declare war solely to the people’s representatives. A nuclear first strike, which can kill hundreds of millions of people and invite a retaliatory strike that can destroy America, is war. The current nuclear launch approval process, which gives the decision to potentially end civilization as we know it to a single individual, is flatly unconstitutional. I am proud to introduce the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2016 with Sen. Markey to realign our nation’s nuclear weapons launch policy with the Constitution.”

“Congressman Lieu & Senator Markey Introduce the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act,” Office of Rep. Ted Lieu, September 27, 2016.

North Korea Conducts Fifth Nuclear Test

On September 9, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear weapon test, thought to be its most powerful yet. The blast registered a 5.0 on the Richter scale, leading experts to believe that the explosive yield was around 10 kilotons. For comparison, the atomic bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, had an explosive yield of approximately 15 kilotons.

Click here to read a statement from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation about North Korea’s most recent test.

Choe Sang-Hun and Jane Perlez, “North Korea Tests a Mightier Nuclear Bomb, Raising Tension,” The New York Times, September 8, 2016.

New Poll Shows 58 Percent of South Koreans Favor Nuclear Armament

A poll conducted by Gallup Korea of 1,010 South Koreans in September found that 58 percent support the idea of the country developing its own nuclear weapons in response to North Korea’s nuclear program. While only 39 percent of people in their 20s supported the idea, three quarters of those aged 60 and above were in support.

“Nearly 60 pct of S. Koreans Support Nuclear Armament: Poll,” Yonhap News Agency, September 23, 2016.

Women Encourage a Peace Treaty to End Korean War

A group of 100 prominent women from 38 countries has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to fulfill his promise to seek a permanent end to the Korean War. The letter urges Ban to “initiate a peace process, together with the UN Security Council president, to replace the 1953 armistice agreement with a binding peace treaty to end the Korean War.”

The letter was organized by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, along with Women Cross DMZ.

“Leading Female Activists Petition UN Chief to Pursue Korea Peace Treaty,” The Japan Times, September 28, 2016.

U.S. Airmen Propose Names for New Nuclear-Armed Bomber

The U.S. Air Force recently held a contest among airmen to find a name for its proposed new B21 nuclear-armed bomber aircraft. With cost estimates already reaching $100 billion, many of the anonymously-submitted entries addressed the outrageous cost. Entries included: Money Pit; Waste of Money; Bombastic Boondoggle; Fundsucker; Hole In the Sky to Throw Money Into; and You Won’t Believe How Much This Cost You in Taxes.

Jacqueline Klimas, “From Trumpnator to Princess Sparklepony: Here Are the 4,600 Names Submitted for the Air Force Bomber Contest,” Washington Examiner, September 22, 2016.

UK Nuclear Weapon Convoys Regularly Involved in Mishaps

Military convoys that transport British nuclear weapons through UK cities and towns have been involved in 180 mishaps in 16 years, according to a new report by Rob Edwards.

Matt Hawkins, spokesman for ICAN-UK, said the report “painted a grim picture of the great risks posed by nuclear convoys,” and that nuclear weapons “only add danger to our lives, exposing us all to the risk of radiation leaks or an attack by terrorists on one of these convoys.”

Rob Evans, “UK Nuclear Weapons Convoys ‘Have Had 180 Mishaps in 16 Years,’” The Guardian, September 21, 2016.

U.S. Defense Secretary Goes On Whirlwind Nuclear Modernization Tour

In September, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited numerous sites integral to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. On a visit to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, Secretary Carter said, “If we don’t replace these systems, quite simply they will age even more, and become unsafe, unreliable, and ineffective.” He continued, “So it’s not a choice between replacing these platforms or keeping them … it’s really a choice between replacing them or losing them.”

Carter also visited Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where he spoke to members of the military as well as civilians involved in the design and production of nuclear weapons. Carter said, “The nuclear mission is the bedrock of American security….It is what everything else rests upon.”

Aaron Mehta, “Carter: Nuclear Triad ‘Bedrock of Our Security,’” Defense News, September 26, 2016.

International Court of Justice to Deliver Judgments on October 5

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver its judgments on preliminary issues in the three Marshall Islands’ nuclear disarmament cases against India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom on October 5 at 10:00 a.m. local time in The Hague. The judgments will be read in open court.

In all three cases the Court is to address and decide questions of jurisdiction and admissibility. If these questions are decided in favor of the Marshall Islands, the cases will go forward to the merits stage. If the Court decides against the Marshall Islands in any of the cases, the litigation in that case will be ended.

The judgments will be livestreamed on the ICJ website starting at 10:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 a.m. Pacific). Click here for a link to the livestream.

“International Court of Justice to Deliver Judgments on Preliminary Issues in Marshall Islands’ Nuclear Disarmament Cases on October 5 at 10:00 a.m.,” Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, September 28, 2016.

October’s Featured Blog

This month’s featured blog is Groundswell, the new blog from Peace Action. The blog aims to inform, engage and mobilize readers concerned about a wide range of peace issues.

Recent titles include “Saudi Arms Deal Under Fire,” “Whose Finger? On What Button?” and “Grassroots Campaign Has Made Cluster Bombs Unprofitable.”

Click here to read the blog.

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 most serious threats that have taken place in the month of October, including the October 27, 1969 incident in which President Nixon ordered 18 B-52 bombers to fly with dozens of hydrogen bombs to the eastern border of the Soviet Union. Part of Nixon’s “Madman Strategy,” this was one of the most destabilizing instances of saber-rattling of the Cold War.

To read Mason’s full article, click here.

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

Noam Chomsky to Receive NAPF Distinguished Peace Leadership Award

Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest minds of our time, will be honored with NAPF’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award at this year’s Evening for Peace on Sunday, October 23, in Santa Barbara, California.

We’re calling the evening NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH because that’s what Chomsky is about– truth. He believes humanity faces two major challenges: the continued threat of nuclear war and the crisis of ecological catastrophe. To hear him on these issues will be highly memorable. Importantly, he offers a way forward to a more hopeful and just world. We are pleased to honor him with our award.

The annual Evening for Peace includes a festive reception, live entertainment, dinner and an award presentation. It is attended by many Santa Barbara leaders and includes a large contingent of sponsored students.

For more information and tickets, click here.

Fourth Graders and Peace Literacy

During the 2016 International Day of Peace (September 21), NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell shared Peace Literacy concepts with fourth graders at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The goal for the new NAPF Peace Literacy initiative is to become part of the curriculum for elementary, secondary, and higher education. Chappell explains this urgent need: “As a child in school I spent many years learning to read and write, but I did not learn peace literacy skills. For example, I was never taught how to resolve conflict, calm myself down, calm others down, or deal with the root causes of problems.”

To read more about Paul’s trip to Hawaii, click here. To learn more about Peace Literacy, click here.

Poetry Contest Winners Announced

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has announced the winners of its 2016 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards. This annual contest invites poets to “explore and illuminate positive visions of peace and the human spirit.” Click here to read this year’s winning poems.

To find out more about the poetry contest, including the winning poems from all years of the contest and information on the 2017 contest, click here.

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

— Mother Teresa. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.

“Let us pledge to work for the total elimination of nuclear weapons with urgency and a sense of collective purpose. Our very survival depends upon it.”

— Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaking on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (September 26).

“Recent Gallup polls show US public opinion of Russia is at a post–Cold War low, with 65–70 percent of Americans having an unfavorable opinion of the Kremlin. While much of this is certainly informed by real-world actions (Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its bombing of Syrian rebels), the corollary media panic perfectly captured by this 60 Minutes segment—portraying everything Russia does in the worst light possible, and everything the United States does as noble and justified—goes a long way to compounding these fears. And in doing so, making any type of future nuclear de-escalation that much less politically viable.”

— Adam H. Johnson, in an article in The Nation criticizing 60 Minutes for its reporting on the threat of nuclear war.

David Krieger
Mitchell McMahon
Kristian Rolland
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman