Home › Ploughshares Blog

Other

Fukushima “Aftershocks” Continue
Japan’s victory in the women’s World Cup championship owned the headlines earlier this week.  The news provided some much needed morale-building four months after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami devastated much of the nation. Read more »
3 Comments
Posted by Ploughshares Fund on July 22, 2011
Japan, fukushima, Health and Environmental Effects, Nuclear Power, TEPCO, Other
The Nuclear Cut at the Deficit
This week, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released "Back in Black," a $9 trillion plan to reduce the U.S. national debt over ten years. In it, he proposed saving $79 billion by cutting the nuclear arsenal to roughly 1,220 deployed nuclear warheads (from the current level of 1,968). Read more »
1 Comment
Posted by Ben Loehrke on July 19, 2011
Nuclear Budget, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Nuclear Policy, Other, United States
How to Shave a Bundle Off the Deficit: Spend Less on Nukes
Congress is in the midst of an intense debate over a massive defense spending bill, and budget negotiations between the Administration and congressional leaders are at a pivotal stage. One key part of our nation's budget must be on the table: nuclear weapons. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Joe Cirincione on July 15, 2011
Nuclear Budget, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Foreign Policy, Defense Budget, U.S. Nuclear Policy, Other, United States
Doing the Nuclear Math: North Dakota
According to the most reliable estimates the U.S. still has over 8,000 nuclear weapons. Read more »
Posted by Peter Fedewa on July 6, 2011
Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Foreign Policy, Proliferation, U.S. Nuclear Policy, Other, United States
The X-Men Didn't Save Us
It wasn't the mutants. It was humans that caused the Cuban Missile Crisis. Only luck saved us from nuclear war. But other than that, the new film, X-Men: First Class, gets a lot right about the historic crisis that is central to its plot. Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on June 16, 2011
Entertainment, Missile Defense, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, U.S. Foreign Policy, Nuclear Terrorism, U.S. Nuclear Policy, Military Strategy, Missiles & Space, Other, United States
Getting Control of the Nuclear Budget
The United States spends roughly $54 billion a year on nuclear weapons and related programs, with plans in place to spend roughly $10 billion more per year on new nuclear submarines, missiles, and bombers. If this massive expenditure goes through as planned, it could overshadow U.S. efforts to reduce the role and number of nuclear weapons. Read more »
Posted by Ben Loehrke on May 17, 2011
Missile Defense, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Foreign Policy, Military Strategy, Other, United States
Eight Weeks Later: Where is Fukushima now?
It has been nearly two months since the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated areas of Japan and killed thousands.  For several weeks the world was riveted by the humanitarian disaster and especially by the cliffhanger story of the damaged and dangerous nuclear power plant we now know as Fukushima Dai-Ichi.  The media frenzy has now shifted to other stories, but unfortunately that does not mean the risks are gone or that the challenges have been overcome. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Paul Carroll on May 4, 2011
Japan, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, fukushima, Health and Environmental Effects, Natural Disaster, Union of Concerned Scientists, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Other
Ploughshares Fund Image
Preventing the Nuclear Apocalypse
Fukushima reminds us that nuclear technology is inherently dangerous, whether in a reactor or in a bomb.  There are 443 nuclear reactors in operation around the world; there are 22,000 weapons.  The reactors have some justification; the bombs have none.  Like a doomsday machine that no one has yet turned off, thousands of nuclear bombs still sit atop missiles ready to launch within minutes. Thousands more are stacked in reserve, dangerously vulnerable to theft or accident.  Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on April 26, 2011
Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Nuclear Policy, Other
'Countdown to Zero' on The History Channel
The History Channel will be showing Countdown to Zero, a riveting documentary about the global threat of nuclear weapons and the imperative of seeking a world without them. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Reid Pauly on April 13, 2011
Entertainment, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Zero, Nuclear Terrorism, Proliferation, U.S. Nuclear Policy, Other
... And Keep it Shut!
What parts of the government should be permanently furloughed? Cut the Missile Defense Agency. The military services would do a better job determining what they need, what works, and how much to spend. The MDA functions primarily as an in-house lobbyist for systems the services have not asked for and do not need. We could save half of the over $10 billion budgeted this year for missile defense by eliminating this redundant agency and the programs it promotes. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Joe Cirincione on April 11, 2011
Missile Defense, U.S. Foreign Policy, Missiles & Space, Other, United States