Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 16th 2023
Posted: 16th March 2023
March 16, 2023
Testing for radioactivity near the site of the Titan II missile silo explosion, September 1980. (Photo by François LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)NUCLEAR RISK
Nerds, ninjas, and neutrons: The story of NESTRecently declassified information offers a glimpse into the Nuclear Emergency Support Team — which is often one of the first agencies to respond whenever there is an incident involving a nuclear weapon or a nuclear reactor. Read more.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Dead before arrival: The governance of stratospheric aerosol injectionThis climate engineering technology uses particles to reflect sunlight back into space in an attempt to cool the Earth. Which raises questions about who gets to control the world’s climate and how they would go about it. Read more.
NUCLEAR RISK
Nuclear Notebook: Chinese nuclear weapons in 2023Though China’s nuclear stockpile is far smaller than that of Russia or the United States, it is working to expand it significantly by fielding more types and greater numbers of nuclear weapons than ever before. Read more.
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NUCLEAR RISK
Nuclear weapons gaffe in South Korea is a warning to leaders everywhereSouth Korean President Yoon and other world leaders must be more careful to avoid nuclear rhetoric that undermines international treaties and taboos, argues international policy analyst Janani Mohan. Read more.
NUCLEAR RISK
Some countries plan to decentralize control of nuclear weapons in a crisis. Here’s why that’s dangerous.Pre-delegating to military operators the ability to launch nuclear weapons creates new pathways to crisis escalation and fundamentally threatens strategic stability, argues an expert on nuclear strategy and operations. Read more.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“A very interesting debate over cybersecurity policy is about to begin. Given the fundamental shifts from previous strategies, it promises to be more vigorous and hard fought. It’s about time.”
— Herb Lin, Bulletin Science and Security Board member, “Where the New National Cybersecurity Strategy Differs From Past Practice,” Lawfare
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