Nuclear Materials

  • Plutonium Waste Begets Budget Waste

    Plutonium Waste Begets Budget Waste

    Many in Congress fumed last year when a green energy company – Solyndra – defaulted on a $535 million government loan, resulting from some bad management decisions and the market falling out from under the company. What happens when the government spends $5 billion on a poorly managed plutonium...

    January 23, 2013 - By Ben Loehrke

  • Livermore Marks Hiroshima Day by Looking Closer to Home

    “In Hiroshima, there is a stone monument that says ‘Please sleep in rest. We will not repeat the same mistake.’ But we did. This time, by our own hands. Right now, in Japan, nuclear power plant radiation is affecting citizens physically and mentally as it was in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

    August 15, 2011 - By Anonymous

  • A Warhead’s Life

    The U.S. currently possesses nearly half of the world’s nuclear warheads. Each warhead type has its own story and takes its own path through the system. All of these warheads are born in the Department of Energy (DoE) and then reside with the Department of Defense (DoD). Many warheads eventually return to the DoE for dismantlement but some become “trapped” in the DoD through a seemingly endless cycle of upgrades, redeployments or storage in the stockpile.

    Below is an attempt to trace the path a warhead may take as it moves through the phases of its life-cycle (full view).

    August 5, 2011 - By Peter Fedewa

  • Improving Nuclear Confidence Between India and Pakistan

    The largely positive recent meeting between Pakistan and India’s foreign ministers marks an uptick in bilateral relations, but the two countries still

    July 29, 2011 - By Rizwan Ladha

  • 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.

    July 22, 2011 - By Ploughshares Fund

  • The Rachel Maddow Show

    Joe provides MSNBC's Rachel Maddow with analysis of the breaking news on the Missouri River flood and what it means for the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska.

    June 30, 2011 - By Anonymous

  • A Man With a Clear Conscience

    June 20, 2011 - By Joe Cirincione

  • Fighting City Hall's Nuclear Weapons

    Kansas City wants to build nuclear weapons. Some of its citizens don't think that's such a good idea.

    June 15, 2011 - By Joe Cirincione

  • Eight Weeks Later: Where is Fukushima now?

    May 4, 2011 - By Paul Carroll

  • Remembering the Prague Speech

    On April 5th, 2009, two years ago today, young President Barack Obama rose to the podium in Hradčany Square at the heart of historic Prague, Czech Republic.

    April 5, 2011 - By Reid Pauly