Our September 13, 2021 webinar discussed the dynamics of a nuclear arms race between the US, Russia, and China. Speakers include Steve Fetter (University of Maryland, College Park), Laura Grego (Union of Concerned Scientists), Lyle Goldstein (Naval War College), and Pavel Podvig (United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research – UNIDIR). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQqBGnkVLpU
Our December 3, 2021 briefing discussed the current status of the Biden Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and unpacked the biggest outstanding controversies and questions. Speakers included Jessica Sleight (Global Zero), Tom Collina (Ploughshares Fund), Laura Grego (MIT), and Charlotte Selton (APS). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeTejYv6xno
Our March 28, 2022 briefing examined Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the connection to nuclear weapons. Speakers included Alex Glaser (Princeton University), Daryl Kimball (Arms Control Association), Pavel Podvig (United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research – UNIDIR) and Laura Grego (MIT). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PGv6eCmFic
The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), also known as the Nuclear Ban Treaty, went into force in January 2021. The treaty was negotiated with the purpose of strengthening the largely unimplemented disarmament pillar of the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The NPT has been signed by […]
Colloquium Abstract We live in an increasingly dangerous nuclear world marked by the abandonment of hard-won arms-control and nonproliferation agreements; the modernization at a cost of trillions of dollars of existing nuclear arsenals; the development of new types of strategic weapons; and threats to use nuclear weapons that risk escalation to large-scale nuclear war. This […]
To provide more context on the U.S.-Russia arms control and effective advocacy for nuclear threat reduction, we held a special meeting on March 3, 2023 for members of the Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction. This session included remarks by the panelists (recording below), followed by an open discussion between the Coalition's experts and members. […]
Colloquium Abstract A nuclear war could inject so much smoke from the resulting fires into the stratosphere that the resulting climate change would be unprecedented in recorded human history. Our climate model simulations find that the smoke would absorb sunlight, making it dark, cold, and dry at Earth’s surface and produce global-scale ozone depletion, with enhanced […]
Colloquium Abstract The first nuclear weapon was tested in Alamogordo, NM, in July 1945. In the following month, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed through the explosion of two nuclear warheads. These horrifying strikes directly led to the surrender of Japan almost 4 years after its attack on Pearl Harbor. An industrial scale effort with more than […]
Colloquium Abstract A nuclear war could inject so much smoke from the resulting fires into the stratosphere that the resulting climate change would be unprecedented in recorded human history. Our climate model simulations find that the smoke would absorb sunlight, making it dark, cold, and dry at Earth’s surface and produce global-scale ozone depletion, with enhanced […]
Colloquium Abstract The first nuclear weapon was tested in Alamogordo, NM, in July 1945. In the following month, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed through the explosion of two nuclear warheads. These horrifying strikes directly led to the surrender of Japan almost 4 years after its attack on Pearl Harbor. An industrial scale effort with more than […]
Colloquium Abstract While nuclear weapons might sound like Cold War relics, in truth the immense risks they pose to all humanity are still very much with us. In fact, trends indicate the risks may be growing with the abandonment of arms control agreements and the development of new types of strategic weapons. Physicists have historically […]
Colloquium Abstract With geopolitical and technological changes driven by the nine nuclear weapons states, we are witnessing a new nuclear arms race and deterioration of the multi-decade arms control regime. This talk will overview basic information on nuclear arms, the current critical situation, feasible steps to reduce the nuclear threat, and a new project to engage […]
