Nuclear Zero

  • Making a Memorial for Hiroshima

    Sadako Sasaki was two years old on August 6, 1945 when a nuclear bomb was dropped on her hometown of Hiroshima. It was the world’s first experience with nuclear war. Sadako was among the fortunate who survived the initial blast.

    August 6, 2012 - By admin

  • Cutting the Nuclear Stockpile in 2012?

    The ratification of New START by the U.S. and Russia set a new ceiling for deployed strategic nuclear weapons at 1,550 in each country. Given the cost of maintaining these weapons and their lack of utility on the modern battlefield, the U.S. could (and should) go even lower.

    May 18, 2012 - By Peter Fedewa

  • The Steady Decline of Global Nuclear Stockpiles

    Russia got rid of an estimated 1,000 nuclear warheads last year, according to a new report from Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris of the Federation of American Scientists, a Ploughshares Fund grantee. That brings the estimated number of nuclear warheads in the world down below 20,000 for the first time since 1959. Russia had already retired these warheads and slated them for dismantlement, so the strategic calculus has not changed. However, it is a strong data point showing the steep downward trend of global nuclear arsenals.

    March 14, 2012 - By Ben Loehrke

  • We Ought to Go to Zero

    Ploughshares Fund is conducting interviews with some of our first donors - recording their stories of why they initially took a risk on Sally Lilienthal’s big idea. Board member and former Ploughshares executive director Gloria Duffy interviews Lew Butler, our first chairman of the board below....

    February 28, 2012 - By admin

  • Behind the Scenes: The Four Horsemen

    Ever since their remarkable op-ed "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons" hit the Wall Street Journal in 2007, the world has been fascinated by the continuing efforts of five former high-profile Cold Warriors to rid the world of nuclear weapons. A new book, The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and their Quest to Ban the Bomb, by former New York Times journalist Phil Taubman takes us behind the scenes of this remarkable group.

    February 21, 2012 - By admin

  • Concrete Steps to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

    All countries can – and must – do more to secure nuclear materials. And countries must take action today, not the day after terrorists explode a nuclear device in a major city.

    January 19, 2012 - By Kelly Bronk

  • One Minute Closer to Doomsday

    Today the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a venerable organization begun by Manhattan Project leaders who presciently realized the implications of their work, moved the Doomsday Clock one minute closer to midnight. It now stands at 5 minutes to “doomsday.”

    January 10, 2012 - By Paul Carroll

  • Must We Keep Living Under the Sword of Damocles?

    The following is the third in a series of guest posts from graduate students reflecting on the 25th anniversary of Rekyavik.

    Twenty-five years ago, two of the leaders of the world’s greatest military powers sat together at the Hofdi House in Reykjavik, Iceland. They were President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and they met to discuss the possibility of eliminating all nuclear weapons.

    November 28, 2011 - By admin

  • Reykjavik: The Vision Not Realized

    The following is the second in a series of guest posts from graduate students reflecting on the 25th anniversary of Rekyavik.

    November 21, 2011 - By admin

  • What if the “madman” is us?

    The following is the first in a series of guest posts from graduate students reflecting on the 25th anniversary of Rekyavik. 

    October marked the 25th anniversary of the Reykjavik summit—an unprecedented event that many nuclear disarmament advocates claim brought us close to an agreement between the Cold War superpowers on the drastic disarmament and eventual abolition of nuclear weapons. President Ronald Reagan’s refusal to scrap the U.S. strategic defense initiative (SDI), or “Star Wars,” is said to have been the nail in the coffin for such an agreement at Reykjavik.

    November 15, 2011 - By admin