The Cold War is over, but the United States and Russia still keep thousands of nuclear weapons on alert and in reserve. Understand the issues with our technical and political analysis.
July 14, 2020 10:38 AM EDT
Yes. Both sides are preparing for that war. Both sides also have nuclear weapons. China declared it will never use them first under any circumstances, but US policy allows for the first use of nuclear weapons if victory cannot be assured by other means. China has promised to retaliate if struck first. So, a nuclear war over Taiwan, while unlikely, is possible.
July 7, 2020 8:00 AM EDT
July 1, 2020 4:38 PM EDT
Divider was the last U.S. nuclear test conducted in 1992 at the Nevada test site. B. Ebbesen/Wikipedia.
After almost thirty years, the US is suddenly contemplating a return to nuclear testing. The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act provides “no less than $10 million” to “carry out projects related to reducing the time required to execute a nuclear test if necessary.” This follows reports in May that senior Trump administration officials were considering conducting a test as a way to pressure Russia and China to engage in nuclear arms control negotiations. On June 24, the administration’s envoy for arms control told reporters that he was “unaware of any particular reason to test at this stage,” but also refused to rule out the possibility, asking “why would we?”
June 1, 2020 9:25 AM EDT
A drawing depicts a final parting between Miyoko Matsubara, the artist, and her friend Michiko, after both were badly burned during the 1945 bombing of Japan. Matsubara Miyoko, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
On June 6, 1964 the American civil-rights activist Yuri Kochiyama hosted a group of Japanese hibakusha in her Harlem apartment. The survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were on a 150-city World Peace Study Mission to share their experience of the bomb. Miyoko Matsubara was among them. She was 12 when “Little Boy” exploded over Hiroshima. She described what happened when she regained consciousness after the blast.
May 26, 2020 4:21 PM EDT
D. Meyers/Unsplash
The news that the Trump administration is considering resuming nuclear weapons testing is morally abhorrent. The current US moratorium on nuclear testing was put in place for many reasons, but we must not forget one crucial reason: In conducting explosive nuclear tests, the US government killed thousands of innocent people and sickened untold thousands more.
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