Nuclear Facts
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.”
There are currently over 12,000 nuclear warheads held by nine nations, with Russia and the United States possessing nearly 90% of the world’s nuclear stockpile. China is also rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal.
Growing concerns about the increased potential for the use of nuclear weapons led the highly respected Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in January to set its Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to catastrophe.
Here are a selection of articles and documents supporting the facts in the film, along with recent concerns about AI and tactical nuclear weapons.
The Doomsday Clock
It is now 85 seconds to midnight
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Nuclear Winter
Nowhere to hide: How a nuclear war would kill you — and almost everyone else
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Nuclear False Alerts
Nuclear False Warnings and the Risk of Catastrophe
Daryl G. Kimball, Arm Control Association
Presidential Power Concerns
Top general feared Trump would launch nuclear war following January 6
The Guardian
The Case Against ICBMs
Opinion | Why It’s Safe to Scrap America’s ICBMs
William J. Perry, Secretary of Defense, 1994-97
To Avoid Armageddon, Don’t Modernize Missiles—Eliminate Them
Daniel Ellsberg & Norman Solomon
Nuclear Weapons Spending: $1.7 Trillion Over 30 Years
America’s Nuclear Weapons Quagmire
Stimson Center
The Impact of Defense Lobbyists
Meet the army of lobbyists behind $2 trillion nuclear weapons boost
Responsible Statecraft
Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Why are tactical nuclear weapons so dangerous?
Union of Concerned Scientists
AI and Nuclear Weapons
AI really likes using nuclear weapons in simulated war scenarios
AXIOS