19. December 2012

CTBTO Interview with physicist, nuclear expert and disarmament activist Zia Mian

Research Scientist, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University

Born in Pakistan, Zia Mian was educated in the United Kingdom and working in the United States since 1996. Mian brings international breadth to his work and support for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Mian is a leading authority on issues of peace and security in South Asia and has produced several books and two documentary films on the subject. He is a Deputy Chair of the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) and Co-Editor of Science & Global Security, the international journal of technical analysis for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation policy.

18. December 2012

Defuse the Exploding Costs of Nuclear Weapons

Focus of the current issue of Arms Control Today, December 2012

See the magazine here: www.armscontrol.org/epublish/1/163

18. December 2012

The Middle East without Weapons of Mass Destruction, the way forward

Participants of "The Middle East without Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Way Forward- Civil Society Input" conference, meeting in Helsinki 14.-16. December 2012 are outraged at the decision to 'readjust the timing' of the Conference. Given the fact that there are already threats of outright war and forms of warfare aimed at Iran, the postponement of the Conference is a serious threat to peace in the Middle East. Read about bthe conference and the demands here: www.rauhanliitto.fi/activities/conference-the-middle-east-without-weapons-mass-destruction-civil-society-input

To read the speech of Yayoi Tsuchida, Steering Committee member, International Peace Bureau (IPB) please click here.

5. December 2012

North Korea's preparation for missile launch heats up, image shows

North Korea appears to be working toward its goal of launching a rocket later this month, with a new satellite image showing preparations continuing around the site.

The December 4 image provided to CNN by satellite imagery company GeoEye shows increased activity by workers on the launch pad, an imagery analyst told Security Clearance. The launch pad activity was not evident in an image from DigitalGloe taken three days earlier. Read on here: security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/04/north-koreas-preparation-for-missile-launch-heats-up-image-shows/

Gensuikyo urges the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to cancel the planned launch of a satellite rocket.
The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) sent a letter to North Korea on December 5, 2012 to urge it to cancel the planned launch of a satellite rocket: As the movement seeking a total ban on nuclear weapons, we strongly urge you to cancel the planned launch of a satellite rocket. The launch runs counter to efforts to create a nuclear weapon-free peaceful East Asia and deteriorates your relations with the international community.
As you know, the missile tests and the development and testing of nuclear weapons that your Government has conducted in the 2000s have met protests and criticism by the international community.  The United Nations has so far adopted resolutions on this problem, including the Security Council resolution 1874 that “demands that the DPRK not conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology.”   Your argument about the right to use outer space does not hold.
We call on all the parties concerned, including your Government, to resume the six-party talks to ensure the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We further call for a sincere effort to achieve the “peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”, which was agreed on at the 2010 NPT Review Conference.

5. December 2012

Russia Calls for Private Companies to Work on Nuclear Weapons

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has called for an initiative to allow Russian private companies to participate in the country's development of nuclear weapons. Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry, stated that the volume of private capital in the Russian defense industry should be brought up to 30-35 percent. Although private businesses can participate in the production of electronic components and new materials, Rogozin stressed that ultimate production of nuclear weapons would remain under the absolute control of the state.

Radnaev, Vitaly, "Private Companies to Take Part in the Nuclear Shield Development," The Voice of Russia, November 12, 2012.

28. November 2012

UK nuclear deterrent plan triggers divisions

Announcement of an extra $565m for improved nuclear weapons capacity worries critics in an era of austerity.

Since the late 1960s Britain's nuclear deterrent strategy has required that at least one of the Royal Navy's submarines be operational and fully armed at all times. Conceived in response to the perceived threat of a surprise Soviet assault on western Europe, Britain's deterrent remains a classic throwback to the nuclear brinkmanship of the Cold War. Yet, two decades after the Soviet Union's collapse, the UK government this week took a big step towards replacing its current submarine-launched Trident missile system with a like-for-like successor that would take to the seas by 2028. "Our nuclear deterrent is the ultimate safeguard of our national security. We have made a clear commitment to maintain that deterrent," said Philip Hammond, the British defence minister, announcing an additional $565m in spending - on top of $4.8bn already committed to the project - for design work on a next-generation replacement for the Vanguard fleet. Read on here: www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/11/20121119142383967.html

1. November 2012

From banning nuclear tests to banning nuclear weapons

On the 60th anniversary of the UK’s first nuclear test, Rebecca Johnson, Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, highlights the  parallels between how the CTBT was achieved in the 1990s and today’s nuclear challenges. Read the article here: www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rebecca-johnson/from-banning-nuclear-tests-to-banning-nuclear-weapons

24. October 2012

Precaution in Practice - challenging the acceptability of depleted uranium weapons

A report by the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) for policy-makers and campaigners that judges the acceptability of DU weapons by utilising the structure of common interpretations of the precautionary principle. In doing so it asks whether a precautionary approach should be applied to DU and whether its use could ever be compatible with precautionary values. Download the report here: www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/precaution-in-practice  

24. October 2012

 Costs of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Program & Spending Alternatives

The American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) have produced a flyer/resource on the costs of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and how the money could be better spent. Quoting U.S. Congressman Edward Markey, the flyer stated that that if the U.S. cut $100 billion of nuclear spending then it could employ 1,270,900 elementary school teachers for a year. To learn more about nuclear weapons spending, and what weapons programs can be cut to improve security and to ensure that everyone's human needs are met in the United States, go to http://afsc.org/document/informational-handout-fund-our-communities-not-more-nuclear-weapons

20. October 2012

Stop Disturbing Effort to Outlaw Nuclear Weapons

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) critizes the Japanese government for not supporting the "16 nations' initiative".

According to a news report about the ongoing deliberation in the First Committee of the 67th United Nations General Assembly, the Japanese government took the attitude not to endorse a draft statement calling on all states to “intensify their efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons and achieve a world free of nuclear weapons”.

The draft statement is being prepared by 16 nations including Switzerland and Norway for submission to the First Committee. In view of the horrible consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, it says the only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons are never used again is the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

This statement is come up with based on the reference made in the final document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference that expressed concern about catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons. This is what the government of Japan to have suffered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be the first to initiate and promote.

The Japanese government has proposed a resolution to the First Committee every year, calling for “determination” and “united action” for the elimination of nuclear weapons. However, it has disagreed with proposals on urgent tasks such as a start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention and a ban on the use of nuclear weapons, standing on the position that the abolition of nuclear weapons is an ultimate goal. It is clear that underlying this attitude is nuclear deterrence theory that relies on the U.S. nuclear strategy for the “security” of Japan.

The Japanese government should initiate a total ban on nuclear weapons even in the light of the “Three Non-nuclear Principles” and Article 9 of the Constitution. This is what the Japanese public, including the Hibakusha, want earnestly.

We strongly urge the Japanese government to give positive support to initiatives leading to the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, including the 16 nations’ statement to delegitimize nuclear weapons and the resolution of Malaysia calling for the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention. We also demand that it should break away from the “nuclear umbrella” ? the extended nuclear deterrence provided by the United States.

Japan Council against A & H Bombs (GENSUIKYO), Tokyo, Japan
Email: antiatomtopazplalaorjp
URL: http://www.antiatom.org/

Read the article: Japan will not join initiative put before U.N. to make nuclear weapons illegal in The Japan Times here: www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121019a6.html

11. October 2012

Israel Rejects Plan for Conference on Nuclear-Free Middle East

A plan to hold a conference about establishing a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone has been met with strong opposition by Israel. The conference, which has support from the Obama administration and many countries around the world, is to take place in Helsinki, Finland, sometime in late 2012 or early 2013.

Shaul Horev, director of the Israeli Nuclear Energy Committee reporting directly to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, expressed his sentiments against the conference at the 56th general convention of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. He stated that Israel would not partake in a nuclear weapon-free Middle East due to the "volatile and hostile situation" in the region. Horev also stated that Israel would agree to nuclear demilitarization only after the establishment of peace in the Middle East, not through "external coercion."

Oren, Amir, "Israel Rejects U.S.-Backed Arab Plan for Conference on Nuclear-Free Mideast," Haaretz, September 20, 2012.

11. October 2012

Netanyahu Calls for Red Line on Iran at UN General Assembly

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which he called for a "clear red line" to be drawn to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He said, "Red lines don't lead to war; red lines prevent war."

Israel, the only country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons, believes that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capability. All known intelligence reports say that Iran ceased pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003.

Source: Reuters, September 27, 2012.

11. October 2012

Nuclear Famine

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation recently launched its new three-minute video entitled "Nuclear Famine." The video details the catastrophic global consequences of even a "limited" regional nuclear war on the other side of the planet.

11. October 2012

Practical Steps to Complete Nuclear Disarmament

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has published a new briefing paper entitled "Disarming Trident: A Practical Guide to De-Activating and Dismantling the Trident Nuclear Weapon System." The report explains that disarming Trident, the UK's submarine-based nuclear weapons system, is not an impossible task. The report outlines how the process can be achieved in eight specific phases over four years.

To read the full report, click here.

11. October 2012

Europe united for Zero

We only have a few weeks left before the majority of members of the European Parliament must pass the declaration backing Global Zero's plan to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. Sign the petition and add your name to the banner that will be delivered and displayed to the European Parliament.

On November 14th, Global Zero's youth ambassadors will meet with the European Parliament to present them with a special display of our signatures and ask them to endorse the Global Zero Action Plan for a world without nuclear weapons. But to make a real impact they need your support. Sign the petition today! Global Zero is the international movement for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

27.September 2012

Foreign ministers gather in New York to press for ban on nuclear tests

Foreign ministers and other high-level representatives met today at the United Nations headquarters in New York to issue a joint call for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

In their joint statement, the foreign ministers described the CTBT’s entry into force as “a vital step towards the reduction and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons by constraining the development and qualitative improvement of nuclear weapons…We call upon all States that have not done so to sign and ratify the Treaty, in particular the remaining eight Annex 2 States [these are China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States]. Read on here: www.ctbto.org/press-centre/press-releases/2012/foreign-ministers-gather-in-new-york-to-press-for-ban-on-nuclear-tests-issue-joint-call/

20.September 2012

Hibakusha, Our Life to Live

A film about the survivors of the atomic bomb attacks
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On August 6, 1945, a great terror was thrust upon the world. David Rothausers's 80 minute documentary, Hibakusha, Our Life to Live, probes the life stories of Japanese, Korean and American survivors of the terror; the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

There is an URGENCY here. The survivors are dying of, victims of radiation poisoning and other a-bomb related diseases. It is equally important to tell the stories on film of people who should never be forgotten. To keep their memory alive is to make an active contribution to a world where peoples of all races may embrace life as a precious gift and no longer live in the fear of nuclear annihilation.

To make this movie, Memory Productions has completed over 90 hours of filming, including interviews with Japanese, Korean and American hibakusha and international youth participating in the 60th Anniversary Peace Ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Learn more here: www.hibakusha-ourlifetolive.org/index.html

19.September 2012

A Steal at $10 Billion, The United States is building a nuclear bomb that costs more than its weight in solid gold. Why?

The United States has two nuclear bomb designs: the B83 and the B61. New plans to modernise the B61 which is the oldest design in the nuclear stockpile have been proposed. The cost to modify the four different designs of the B61, namely, B61 Mods 3, 4, 7 and 10 into a single modification called B61 Mod 12 will cost $10 billion. Earlier plans to modify nuclear weapons which were proposed by the George W. Bush Administration were rejected by the Congress. Additionally, President Obama had stated that no 'new' nuclear weapons will be made. However, since 'new' has no technical meaning, the B61 Mod 12 will determine as to how much nuclear weapons could be redesigned while staying within the political guidance as defined by Obama's 2010 Nuclear Posture Review.

But does the U.S. need to spend so much on nuclear weapons modernisation? Senior military and civilian officials have repeatedly stated that these weapons have no military utility and exist primarily to fulfil political needs. Read the article in Foreign Policy here: www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/05/a_steal_at_10_billion

19.September 2012

The CTBT: obstacles to entry into force

The CTBT: obstacles to entry into force examines the policies of the 38 states that have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). More than 16 years after the treaty was adopted, significant obstacles remain on the path to its entry into force. The Reaching Critical Will project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has published this report on government positions on the CTBT to highlight why entry into force of the treaty should not be treated as a precondition to nuclear disarmament or to the commencement of negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons completely.
The report is authored by Eloise Watson, who conducted the research while with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in Australia. Eloise is now an intern with Reaching Critical Will. Download the report here: www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/publications-and-research/publications/6659-the-ctbt-obstacles-to-entry-into-force

5. September 2012

Russia announces enormous finds of radioactive waste and nuclear reactors in Arctic seas

Enormous quantities of decommissioned Russian nuclear reactors and radioactive waste were dumped into the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia over a course of decades, according to documents given to Norwegian officials by Russian authorities and published in Norwegian media.Read the article here: www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2012/Russia_reveals_dumps

5. September 2012

Putting U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policies on Trial in the Court of Public Opinion

By David Krieger

The International Court of Justice, the highest and most authoritative court in the world, has stated that the use of nuclear weapons would be illegal if such use violated international humanitarian law.  Failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants would be illegal, as would any use resulting in unnecessary suffering.  Additionally, the Court found that any threat of such use would also be illegal.  It is virtually impossible to imagine any use or threat of use that would not violate international humanitarian law.

Current US nuclear weapons policy is illegal, immoral and runs a high risk of resulting in nuclear catastrophe.  We cannot wait until there is a nuclear war before we act to rid the world of these weapons of mass annihilation.  The US should be the leader in this effort, rather than an obstacle to its realization.  It is up to the court of public opinion to assure that the US asserts this leadership.  The time to act is now.
Read the article here: www.wagingpeace.org/articles/db_article.php

5. September 2012

Catastrophic Humanitarian Harm

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), has just published a new booklet about the catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons on our health, societies and the environment. The publication examines the harm caused by nuclear attacks on cities, nuclear testing and nuclear weapons production.
To download the booklet, click here.

28. August 2012

Message to the 16th Summit of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement

By: Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo)

Hiroshi TAKA, representative director of Gensuikyo has attended the 16th Summit of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as a guest, which is convened in Teheran, Iran on August 26 to 31, 2012.

The 16th NAM Summit is meeting at the extremely important juncture. The 8th NPT Review Conference in May 2010 agreed that it would “achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” as principle and objective, and confirmed that the “unequivocal undertaking” of the Nuclear Five agreed on in May 2000 to “accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals”. It further affirmed that “all States need to make special efforts to establish the necessary framework to achieve and maintain a world without nuclear weapons”, and specifically noted “the Five-Point Proposal” of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which includes inter alia the “negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention”.
The final document also made it obligation to convene an international conference for a Middle East Zone free of nuclear weapons as well as other weapons of mass destruction.

To read the full message please click here.

13. August 2012

World Conference against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

Read the final declaration of the conference here. Read the Appeal from Hiroshima here.

To read the opening speech of INES staff member Reiner Braun please click here.

8. August 2012

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2012

Twenty years after its first edition, the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2012 portrays an industry suffering from the cumulative impacts of the world economic crisis, the Fukushima disaster, ferocious competitors and its own planning and management difficulties. Download the report, an executive summary & conclusions as well as all past editions in various languages, presentations, essential news snippets and a selection of ongoing media coverage here: www.worldnuclearreport.org/#

6. August 2012

Preventing Another Hiroshima

By Rebecca Johnson

"Sixty-seven years ago today, the first uranium bomb was exploded above Hiroshima with the force of 15 thousand tons of TNT.
Tens of thousands were killed by the blast and fireball that engulfed the city, and a similar number died of radiation sickness and injuries in the days and months that followed; in total 140,000 dead by 1945’s end. Three days later, Nagasaki was shattered by a plutonium bomb.
...As we remember the devastation wrought by two relatively small nuclear bombs in August 1945, we cannot afford to be complacent.... A treaty banning nuclear weapons is urgent, necessary and achievable, and negotiations on such a treaty should begin. Now."

Rebecca Johnson is Vice-Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). To read the complete article please click here: icanw.org/node/6119

6. August 2012

2012 Sadako Peace Day Message

By David Krieger

Today marks the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. It is the anniversary of a bombing that targeted school children, pre-school children and infants, as well as women and the elderly.

When you think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, think of innocent children.

Sadako was such a child, only two years old when the bomb exploded over Hiroshima. As she grew older, she became a bright student and a fast runner, but ten years after the bombing she was hospitalized with radiation-induced leukemia.

Japanese legend has it that one’s wish will be granted by folding 1,000 paper cranes. Sadako folded these paper cranes in the hope of fulfilling her wish to regain her health and achieve a peaceful world. She wrote this poem, “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.” Read on

6. August 2012

To Make South Asia (SAARC) Nuclear Weapons Free

Speech by Prof. Dhirendra Sharma at Doon University, Dehradun (India)

There is no civil defense against a nuclear bomb. No hospitals, schools, factories, nursing homes, police -or government offices, fire engines, ambulances, metros, cars, moving and stationary vehicles, homes, temples, mosques, and churches and airports, – all and every thing moveable and immoveable would be instantly engulfed in the thousands Celsius flaming tsunami. The petrol-pump depots would add to the exploding firewalls. Read on

4. August 2012

Mapping Nuclear Disarmament

The Simons Foundation has launched a set of interactive maps on their website that explore their primary areas of focus, including nuclear disarmament. The Nuclear Disarmament map contains information on what they deem to be the legal, political and practical steps that need to be taken in order to achieve the goal of complete nuclear disarmament - zero nuclear weapons.

John Burroughs, Fellow at The Simons Foundation and Executive Director of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Disarmament, was responsible for the development of the information for the nuclear disarmament map.

To view the map, click here: www.thesimonsfoundation.ca/mapping-issues

4. August 2012

Meeting between senior EU and Iranian officials fails to solve nuclear deadlock

By Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi

A senior EU official is reporting no progress in the newest international push to persuade Iran to curb activities that could be used to make nuclear weapons, leaving the resumption of high-stakes negotiations with Tehran in doubt, diplomats said Friday.

A meeting on July 24, between senior EU envoy Helga Schmid and Ali Bagheri, Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator, was an attempt to restart top-level nuclear talks between Tehran and six world powers after the last round in Moscow fizzled on June 19.

Neither side wants to give up the talks. Iran seeks relief from sanctions, including recently enacted international embargoes on its oil, its main source of revenue. The U.S and other countries at the table with Tehran fear that the failure of negotiations could prompt Israel to make good on its threat to attack Tehran’s nuclear installations — a move that could draw Washington into the conflict.Read on here: www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/official-iran-willing-to-continue-nuclear-talks-until-positive-conclusion/2012/07/27/gJQAu3bmDX_story.html

17. July 2012

CTBTO Interview with Benno Laggner, Switzerland's Ambassador for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

Source: CTBTO Faces

Switzerland has made it a specific issue to delegitimize nuclear weapons, arguing that their use would violate the fundamental rules and principles of international humanitarian law. At the May 2012 NPT Preparatory Committee in Vienna, Laggner delivered a statement on behalf of Switzerland and 15 other nations stressing the grave humanitarian threat and legal implications posed by nuclear weapons. Hear him talk about these and other issues in a wide-ranging interview conducted after he delivered Switzerland’s pivotal statement.

CTBTO Faces is a new website collection of interviews with personalities whose work, lives and expertise place them in the forefront of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and verification issues. Interview partners range from scientists to film makers, diplomats to civil society leaders. Their insights and opinions set the context for past, present and future global efforts to foster international peace and security.

12. July 2012

Breaking the Nuclear Chain

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), IKV Pax Christi and Peace Boat have initiated a new campaign to inform, motivate, and activate people to prevent the looming humanitarian catastrophe represented by the nuclear chain (from uranium mining to power, weapons and nuclear waste). The campaign aims at bringing together people that have been affected by any aspects of the nuclear chain and those who are committed to disrupt this chain. The idea is to put a human face on the abstract debate on nuclear issues.See: www.breakingthenuclearchain.org/

11. July 2012

Nuclear power vs. people power

Article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists by Raminder Kaur, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex.

India's ambitions include a tenfold increase in nuclear power so it supplies 25 percent of the nation's energy needs by 2050. Two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at Koodankulam are expected to go online very soon -- the first commissioned reactors since Fukushima.

The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy has successfully mobilized tens of thousands of Indian citizens to join nonviolent protests, while the Indian state has resorted to harassment and threats of violence.

The nuclear establishment is the darling of Indian statehood, with far more people employed by the nuclear industry than the renewable energy sector. Citizen calls for increased transparency, accountability, and proper adherence to procedure have been met with repeated denials, deferrals, and deceit.

Read the article here: thebulletin.org/web-edition/op-eds/nuclear-power-vs-people-power

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists informs the public about threats to the survival and development of humanity from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in the life sciences.

16. June 2012

On May 15, 2012 the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced spending of £5 billion at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire, UK. Read more here: www.cnduk.org/media/item/1392-what-cuts

6. June 2012

Calling for U.S. leadership on global elimination of nuclear weapons and redirection of nuclear weapons spending to meet the urgent needs of cities.

At the close of its 80th annual meeting in Orlando Florida, on June 16, 2012, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a strong, comprehensive, new Mayors for Peace resolution Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Urgent Needs of Cities.Read the resolution here: www.usmayors.org/resolutions/80th_Conference/international08.asp

13. May 2012

The world’s nuclear missiles ready to fly

This stunning graphic appeared in the National Post on May 4, 2012. It represents an estimate of the number of nuclear missiles currently "ready to use" -- that is, deliverable to targets in a very short time. It does not attempt to compare explosive yields or even the number of warheads in any given missile.

The outer blue circle are missiles belonging to the United States of America.
The red circle just inside the outer blue circle are those belonging to Russia.
The blue circle inside that one are the missiles belonging to Britain and France.
The red circle inside that are missiles belonging to China and Pakistan.
The innermost circle, light green and blue, are the missiles of India and Israel.

To enlarge the image or view a large-scale PDF please visit: news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/04/world-nuclear-graphic/

13. May 2012

B61 Nuclear Bomb Costs Escalating

By Hans M. Kristensen

The expected cost of the B61 Life-Extension Program (LEP) has increased by 50 percent to $6 billion dollars, according to U.S. government sources.
Only one year ago, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) estimated in its Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program report to Congress that the cost of the program would be approximately $4 billion.
The escalating cost of the program – and concern that NNSA does not have an effective plan for managing it – has caused Congress to cap spending on the B61 LEP by 60 percent in 2012 and 100 percent in 2013. The Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office is currently evaluating NNSA’s cost estimate and is expected to release its assessment in July. After that, NNSA is expected to release a validated cost, schedule and scope estimate for the B61 LEP, a precondition for Congress releasing the program funds for Phase 6.3 of the program. Read on here: www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/hans_kristensen

2. May 2012

New Report: US and Russian Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons

By Hans M. Kristensen

A new report estimates that Russia and the United States combined have a total of roughly 2,800 nuclear warheads assigned to their non-strategic nuclear forces. Several thousands more have been retired and are awaiting dismantlement.

The report comes shortly before the NATO Summit in Chicago on 20-21 May, where the alliance is expected to approve the conclusions of a year-long Deterrence and Defense Posture Review that will, among other things, determine the “appropriate mix” of nuclear and non-nuclear forces in Europe. It marks the 20-year anniversary of the Presidential Unilateral Initiatives in the early 1990s that resulted in sweeping reductions of non-strategic nuclear weapons. Read on here: www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/hans_kristensen

26. April 2012

Ban nuclear weapons totally with a binding convention

Proposals to the Japanese Government by the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) on  the occasion of the NPT PrepCom 2012 in Vienna, Austria.

As you know, the 2010 NPT Review Conference agreed on achieving “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” as the goal of the NPT. The Final Document specified that the five nuclear weapons states would “accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals”, that all states would “make special efforts to establish a necessary framework” for this purpose, and that the Conference noted the five point proposal of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, including negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention.

The faithful implementation of these agreements is the key to the success of the 2015 NPT Review Conference and the efforts in the lead up to it. As in the statement of our organization on the occasion of the NPT PrepCom, we call on all the parties of the NPT to start negotiations for a convention banning nuclear weapons. At the same time, we urge the government of Japan, the only A-bombed country, to play its part by taking the following actions:

1. Make a clear statement that banning nuclear weapons totally with a binding convention is the only way to achieving “a world without nuclear weapons”, and propose the commencement of negotiations for the conclusion of a convention banning nuclear weapons.

2. Call for overcoming nuclear deterrence theory, facing up to the reality that the justification of nuclear weapons based on nuclear deterrence and extended deterrence is a driving force in nuclear arms races, increasing the danger of the use of nuclear weapons and the vicious cycle of proliferation of nuclear weapons; and declare and call for respect for Japan ’s position that, based on Article 9 of the Constitution and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, it will promote a total ban on nuclear weapons, break away from the “nuclear umbrella” and not allow the possession, production and bringing-in of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.

3. Make known the damage of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and value and support the efforts of the Hibakusha and NGOs for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Further information: http://www.antiatom.org/

11. April 2012

Assuring destruction forever: nuclear weapon modernization around the world

As of March 2012, the nuclear weapon possessors - China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United King dom, and the United States - are estimated to possess approximately 19,500 nuclear weapons. All of them have plans to modernize - upgrade and/or extend the lives of - their nuclear weapons.

6. April 2012

Global study reveals who's financing nuclear arms makers

Don't bank on the bomb: the global financing of nuclear weapons producers
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) published its report Don't bank on the bomb: the global financing of nuclear weapons producers. It identifies more than 300 banks, pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in 30 countries with substantial investments in nuclear arms producers. It calls on financial institutions to stop investing in the manufacture, maintenance and modernization of nuclear armed countries. Please find the report on the don't bank the bomb website

6. April 2012

Obama Promises to Seek New Nuclear Reductions with Russia

President Obama has promised to engage in negotiations with Russia for deeper cuts in each country's nuclear arsenal. Speaking before the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, President Obama said, "We can already say with confidence that we have more nuclear weapons than we need."

He continued, "Going forward, we'll continue to seek discussions with Russia on a step we have never taken before - reducing not only our strategic nuclear warheads, but also tactical weapons and warheads in reserve."

The president is expected to address the issue with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, when the two meet in May. Obama will likely face strong opposition from Congressional Republicans, who already accuse him of breaking promises to "modernize" the US nuclear weapons complex in exchange for ratification of the New START Treaty last year.

Spetalnick, Matt and Laurence, Jeremy, "Obama Vows to Pursue Further Nuclear Cuts with Russia," Reuters, March 26, 2012.

6. March 2012

New Nuclear Notebook: Russian Nuclear Forces 2012

By Hans M. Kristensen

Russia is planning to retire more than two-thirds of its current arsenal of nuclear land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles by the early 2020a. That includes some of the most iconic examples of the Soviet threat against the United States: SS-18 Satan, SS-19 Stiletto, and the world’s first road-mobile ICBM, the SS-25.

The plan coincides with the implementation of the New START treaty but significantly exceeds the reductions required by the treaty.

During the same period, Russia plans to deploy significant numbers of new missiles, but the production will not be sufficient to offset the retirement of old missiles. As a result, the size of Russia’s ICBM force is likely to decline over the next decade – with or without a new nuclear arms control treaty.

This and much more is described in our latest Nuclear Notebook published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Download the pdf here:

29. February 2012

North Koreans Agree to Freeze Nuclear Work

North Korea announced that it would suspend its nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex. The surprise announcement raised the possibility of ending a diplomatic impasse that has allowed the country’s nuclear program to continue for years without international oversight. Read on here: www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/world/asia/us-says-north-korea-agrees-to-curb-nuclear-work.html

24. February 2012

Defense Intelligence Agency threat assessment shows slower Chinese nuclear modernization.

By Hans M. Kristensen

At about the same time nuclear arms reduction opponents last week incorrectly accused the Obama administration of considering “reckless” cuts in nuclear forces that would leave the United States “with fewer warheads than China,” Congress received its annual threat assessment from the U.S. intelligence community.

China’s nuclear arsenal is at a size that makes comparison with U.S. nuclear force level meaningless – even at the lowest level feared by the critics – but the threat assessment showed that China’s nuclear force modernization has been slower than predicted during the Bush administration.

Read on here: www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2012/02/chinamissiles.php#more-5226

January 2012

Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone

By Alfred Marder, International Association of Peace Messengers Cities.

We are deeply concerned that the current response to the insistence that Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons is creating a volatile, unstable climate that can lead to frightening consequences. We cannot be silent as events unfold.

It is our judgment that the global peace movement must offer a concrete solution based upon historical precedent and experience, a solution that the global movement has adopted years ago, and, in the framework of the United Nations, is recognized as a powerful instrument for peace: a Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.

To Read on download the open letter please.

30. January 2012

Budget Blunder: “No Cuts” in Nuclear Forces

By Hans M. Kristensen
“There are no cuts made in the nuclear force in this budget.” That clear statement was made yesterday by deputy defense secretary Ashton Carter during the Pentagon’s briefing on the defense budget request for Fiscal Year 2013. Read on here: www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/hans_kristensen

25. January 2012

Support for a disarmament treaty

Three-quarters of all nations support UN Secretary-General Ban Ki moon’s proposal for a treaty to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons, according to a study released last week by ICAN.

The report was released one week after the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was moved one minute closer to midnight in response to growing nuclear dangers around the world and a lack of progress towards nuclear abolition. “The vast majority of nations believe it is time to ban nuclear weapons in the same way that biological and chemical weapons have been banned,” said Tim Wright, an ICAN campaigner and the author of the study. Download the study: www.icanw.org/positions

21. January 2012

Beyond the UK: Trends in the Other Nuclear Armed States

This first BASIC Trident Commission briefing by Dr. Ian Kearns from October 30, 2011 outlines recent worrying developments in the nuclear force structures of the world’s nuclear armed states. It argues that “the evidence points to a new era of global nuclear force modernisation and growth”.

It presents evidence that:

• Despite all the recent disarmament rhetoric, there is no evidence that any of the currently nuclear armed states are actively contemplating a future without nuclear weapons;
• The potential for nuclear weapons use is growing;
• Major development or nuclear force modernisation programmes are underway in India, China, the US, Russia, and Pakistan. Israel is on course to develop an inter-continental ballistic missile; India is developing a whole suite of new missiles with longer ranges; Several states are trying to build smaller nuclear warheads for tactical use;
• If anything, the evidence points to new nuclear arms races and a huge amount of money (hundreds of billions of US$) being spent over the coming decade;
• Despite the need for major powers to cooperatively address the challenges of globalisation, nuclear deterrence thinking is still very evident in the defence policies of all the major powers; and
• The New START treaty, while a welcome return to arms control, has a number of loopholes meaning that its affect on disarmament is minimal.

Read the full article here: www.basicint.org/sites/default/files/commission-briefing1.pdf

20. January 2012

New U.S. Global Military Strategy could hint at future moves to reduce dependence on tactical nuclear weapons in Europe

By Chris Lindborg

President Barack Obama made an historic visit to the Pentagon on January 5, 2012 to deliver his remarks on the release of the United States’ “New Global Military Strategy”. During the two-part press conference, he and other defense leaders carefully chose their words to forewarn other American policymakers that big changes will be coming to the U.S. military, and that allies should be ready for big changes too. Read on here: www.basicint.org/news/2012/new-us-global-military-strategy-could-hint-future-moves-reduce-dependence-tactical-nuclear

18. January 2012

Indian Army Chief: Nukes Not For Warfighting

By Hans M. Kristensen

India’s nuclear weapons “are not for warfighting,” the chief of India’s army said Sunday at the Army Day Parade. The weapons have “a strategic capability and that is where it should end,” General V. K. Singh declared.

The rejection of nuclear warfighting ideas is a welcoming development in the debate over the role of nuclear weapons in South Asia. Pakistan’s military’s description of its new snort-range NASR missile as a “shoot and scoot…quick response system” has rightly raised concerns about the potential early use of nuclear weapons in a conflict.

NASR is one of several new nuclear weapon systems that are nearing deployment with warheads from a Pakistani stockpile that has nearly doubled since 2005.

India is also increasing its arsenal and already has short-range missiles with nuclear capability: the land-based Prithvi has been in operation for a decade, and a naval version (Dhanush) is under development. But India’s posture seems focused on getting its medium-range Agni II in operation, developing longer-range versions to target China, and building a limited submarine-based nuclear capability. Read  on here:www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/hans_kristensen

13. January 2012

Guatemala ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT)

Guatemala has reaffirmed its long-standing support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by ratifying the Treaty. The number of ratifications now stands at 156; while a total of 182 States have signed the Treaty.

To read the presse release visit: www.ctbto.org/press-centre/press-releases/2011/press-release-guatemala-ratifies-the-comprehensive-nuclear-test-ban-treaty-ctbt/

The Costs of Nuclear Weapons

By David Krieger
October 2011
Nuclear weapons are costly in many ways.  They change our relationship to other nations, to the earth, to the future and to ourselves.

Many people, perhaps most, believe that the nuclear threat went away when the Cold War ended.  But the threat remains.  It is not only a threat to us, but a threat by us – a threat that puts civilization and the future at risk.  Nuclear weapons put us at war with our inheritance from the past; and with the yet unborn people of the future who have no means of protection against us. 

At the beginning of the Nuclear Age, Einstein warned: “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” Read on here: The costs of nuclear weapons.

28. November -  9. December 2011

Strengthening Verification, Enhancing Security: The Science and Significance of the CTBT

Advanced Course on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Vienna, Austria
The course is a part of the Preparatory Commission’s Capacity Development Initiative (CDI), launched with the objective of training and educating the next generation of experts on the CTBT. For further information on the program, applications and background please visit the website of the CTBTO.

21.-22. November 2011

Forum on Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone for Middle East

IAEA's headquarters, Vienna, Austria
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to host a forum among its Member States to consider how the experience of Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZ) in several regions of the world could be relevant to the Middle East.

Nuclear-weapon-free zones have already been established in Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Asia. The treaties contain certain variations, but all five cover large inhabited areas and all are designed to ensure the total absence of nuclear weapons from the territories of the States party to them. They also provide for IAEA verification of the non-diversion of nuclear material and for the establishment of regional mechanisms to deal with compliance problems; and contain a protocol providing for the nuclear-weapon States party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to commit themselves not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon State party to the NWFZ Treaty in question.
NWFZs have also been established in certain uninhabited areas - Antarctica, outer space and the sea bed.

More information: www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/2011/prn201112.html

9. November 2011

On 21 October 2011, the Nuclear Abolition Forum was launched in New York.
The Nuclear Abolition Forum is a joint project of eight key organizations active in the disarmament field. The founding organizations are:

• INESAP
• Albert Schweitzer Institut
• Global Security Institute
• International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA)
• International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
• Middle Powers Initiative
• Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
• World Future Council

The Forum’s first issue of its periodical focuses on the application of International Humanitarian Law to Nuclear Weapons and its implications. Edited by Dr. John Burroughs of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, the issue offers a variety of perspectives on this important issue through articles from high-level contributors.

4. November, 2011

Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation: A Fissile Material Perspective

12:00 – 14:00, Vienna, Austria
A seminar with Dr. Frank N. von Hippel, Co-Chair, International Panel on Fissile Materials Co-Director, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University
Registration (required) on the website of the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

22. September 2011

New Activity Report 2010 of the International Peace Bureau.

The Report contains a brief overview of IPB's main programmes during the year:

• Disarmament for Development
• Nuclear Disarmament
• Making Peace exhibition
• Oslo conference: A Climate of Peace

21. September 2011

Mayors for Peace membership has exceeded 5000

By September 20th, 2011 Mayors for Peace, a network campaigning for abolition of nuclear weapons consists of 5003 member cities from 151 countries and regions. To learn more click here.

September 2011

The international Global Zero movement launched in December 2008 includes more than 300 political, military, business, faith and civic leaders — and hundreds of thousands of citizens — working for the phased, verified elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide.

Global Zero members believe that the only way to eliminate the nuclear threat — including proliferation and nuclear terrorism — is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, secure all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons: global zero.
Read on

5. September 2011

Windfarms prevent detection of secret nuclear weapon tests, says UK Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is blocking plans for hundreds of wind turbines because it says their "seismic noise" will prevent the detection of nuclear explosions around the world.

The MoD claims that vibrations from new windfarms across a large area of north-west England and south-west Scotland will interfere with the operation of its seismological recording station at Eskdalemuir, near Lockerbie.
To read the article by Rob Edwards of Friday 19 August 2011 please click here.

5. September 2011

Amano Confident about Middle East Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone

Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that there appears to be momentum for a meeting as early as November between Israel and Arab nations to discuss a Middle East nuclear weapon-free zone.

Amano said, "A nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East will not be achieved tomorrow - everyone knows it - but we can get closer. Increasing confidence is very much needed; even a small step is helpful. I hope that we can host a forum this year."

"MomentumBuilding for Nuke-Free Mideast Meeting, Amano Says," Global Security Newswire, August 22, 2011.

25. August  2011

A nuclear weapon-free, peaceful and just world is the common desire of all who work for peace and against war.

More more than 10.000 peace activists participated in the 2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima including 250 delegates in the International Meeting on Aug. 3-5, about 2.000 in the Hiroshima Day Rally on Aug. 6 and 7.800 in the World Conference – Nagasaki on Aug. 7-9, as well as 88 overseas delegates from 25 countries. It was encouraging that many people took part in the Conference from the March 11 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis-afflicted areas.

Read the report of the Organizing Committee.

Read the declaration of the conference:

Signature campaign in support of the “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons"

Read the statement of Hiroshi Taka, Representative Director (Japan Council against A and H Bombs) at the Opening Plenary on Aug. 7, 2011 in Nagasaki.

10. August, 2011

Workshop on nuclear weapons and their disarmament

14:00 - 18:00, Hamburg, Germany

Side event of the larger conference on severe atmospheric aerosol events. The ecological consequences of a nuclear war plays an important part of the conference. Speakers are:
Steven Starr, Oliver Meier, Susi Snyder, Martin Kalinowski and Jürgen Scheffran.

Please register by email to aerosol-eventsuni-hamburgde and specifiy whether you plan to attend the workshop alone or in addition the converence as well. There are limited number of places available.
See agenda:

8. August  2011

Russia's Nuclear Forces

A new Proliferation Paper by Pavel Podvig has been published by the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales. Nuclear weapons have traditionally occupied an important place in Russia's national security strategy. As Russia and the United States have been reducing their nuclear arsenals since the end of the Cold War, their relationship has undergone a complex transformation. Russia, however, still considers strategic balance with the United States to be an important element of national security.

After an overview of the current status of the Russian strategic nuclear forces and the strategic modernization program undertaken by Russia, this Proliferation Paper considers the role that missile defense and tactical nuclear weapons could play during the next round of nuclear arms control negotiations. Each of these problems presents a serious challenge. Nevertheless, this analysis suggests that recent progress in nuclear disarmament and the willingness of both countries to engage in a dialogue give the two countries an opportunity to reduce the importance of nuclear weapons in their relationship.

8. August  2011

US may pull tactical nukes out of Europe: report

(AFP) – Jul 14, 2011

TOKYO — The United States is in talks with NATO to remove US tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, in a push toward a nuclear-weapons-free world and to cut costs, a Japanese newspaper said Friday.

Washington is talking with other NATO member nations about the withdrawal of all shorter-range, tactical nuclear weapons that have been deployed in Europe since the Cold War era, the influential Asahi Shimbun said.

In-depth discussions will take place in coming months and the talks should conclude by the time Chicago hosts a NATO summit next May, the liberal daily said, citing a senior US official tasked with nuclear disarmament policies.

The talks are being held as part of NATO's Defense and Deterrence Posture Review, said the report filed from the paper's Washington bureau.

The move came as US President Barack Obama wants to negotiate with Russia about reducing tactical nuclear weapons and nuclear stockpiles, following the ratification this year of the US-Russia New START disarmament treaty, it said.

If a complete abolition in Europe is agreed, it could give impetus to US-Russia nuclear disarmament talks, the mass-circulation newspaper said.

Japan is the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Post-war Japan has strongly pushed nuclear non-proliferation efforts, a topic that is closely followed by Japanese media.
Copyright © 2011 AFP.

8. August  2011

Activist takes Germany to court over nuclear warheads

Retired pharmacist versus Germany: a Cologne court has begun hearing the case of an activist intent on having Germany remove US nuclear warheads being stored at a military base located in western Germany. 14. July, 2011
Read on

6. August  2011

Remembrance, Reflection and Resistance

By David Krieger

We remember the horrors of the past so that we may learn from them and they will not be repeated in the future. If we ignore or distort the past and fail to learn from it, we are opening the door to repetition of history’s horrors.

In August, we remember the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which took place on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. Both were illegal attacks on civilian populations, violating long-standing rules of customary international humanitarian law prohibiting the use of indiscriminate weapons (as between combatants and non-combatants) and weapons that cause unnecessary suffering.
Read on

29. June 2011

President Clinton – and 19 other former heads of government - support Nuclear Weapons Convention

The Inter-Action Council, a group of 20 former heads of government meeting in Québec City (Canada) 29-31 May 2011, have released a statement with key recommendations for the world’s future – with specific attention on the global water crisis, financial stability, the necessity of moving towards renewable energy, unrest in the Middle East and nuclear disarmament.

The Council, following a briefing on nuclear disarmament from Middle Powers Initiative Chair Richard Butler, agreed “The continuing existence of nuclear weapons is an unacceptable and disproportionate threat to every living thing on the planet. The only enduring solution to this threat lies in the verifiable and irreversible elimination of these weapons…”
Read on

19. June 2011

IALANA General Assembly issues an urgent call for a world without nuclear weapons and nuclear energy

“Nuclear weapons and nuclear energy are the two sides of a Damoclean sword. We are sharpening the cutting edge to make it even more dangerous through our research and improvement of nuclear weapons. The blunt side of the sword is also being sharpened to a dangerous level through the proliferation and maintenance of nuclear reactors. The fibers of the threat by which the sword is suspended are being cut one by one through the increasing number of nuclear states, the availability on the internet of knowledge regarding nuclear weapons construction, the availability of materials from the waste of nuclear reactors, and the activities of terrorist organizations who would love to acquire a bomb. The sword of Damocles is being made more dangerous every day.” These were the key words of the speech of Judge Christopher Weeramantry, former Vice-President of the International Court of Justice and UNESCO Peace Education Laureate, held on Saturday June 18, 2011 in Szceczin, Poland.

Read the Declaration

8.-10. 6. 2011

Science and Technology for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Vienna, Austria.

To build and strengthen its relationship with the broader science community in support of the Treaty, the CTBTO invites the community to a scientific conference.
This multidisciplinary scientific conference, designed to foster partnerships on many levels, will be of interest to working scientists and technologists, science administrators, scientific representatives to the CTBTO's policy-making organs, and representatives of agencies that fund research and development in areas potentially relevant to the Treaty's verification system.

For further information click here.

7. June 2011

Let us withdraw the remaining US nuclear weapons from Europe

By Tom Sauer

NATO Defense Ministers gather in Brussels on 8-9 June. On the agenda is NATO's Nuclear Policy Review (formally called Defense and Deterrence Review).

On 8 and 9 June, the Defense Ministers gather in Brussels to discuss the NATO Defense and Deterrence Review, a de facto nuclear policy review. Because this issue was such a hot topic in 2010, especially between Germany and France, the NATO Strategic Concept deliberations ended with a lowest common denominator compromise.
The most acrimonious point in the current review is not whether the 200 remaining US nuclear weapons in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey should be withdrawn, but when and how. Even the US military agree that their military utility is close to zero. The key question is whether NATO should link the withdrawal to the Russian tactical nuclear weapons, or not. Cold War logic would of course suggest such linkage.
To read on click here.

6. June 2011

National Peace March Calling for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

The 2011 National Peace March against A and H Bombs has started in its major 11 routes one after another. This year's Peace March is being conducted under difficulties caused by the March 11th  East Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0, tsunamis and subsequent Fukushima nuclear power plant accident that meltdown of four reactors and radioactive dispersion happened. It is going to call for support to and solidarity with sufferers of the disaster, and transmit inside and outside Japan a message for a nuclear weapon-free, peaceful and just world, human- and nature-friendly global environment, as well as voices for a withdrawal from nuclear energy.

To read on click here.

1. June, 2011

Climate Change, Nuclear Risks and Nuclear Disarmament

From Security Threats to Sustainable Peace

The report examines the convergence of nuclear and climate change threats and its implications for global security. It is based on groundbreaking research by WFC Peace and Disarmament Working Group member and Vice Chair of the INES Executive Committee Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scheffran of the University of Hamburg.
To read the press relase of WFC click here.
To download the 24-pages report click here.

May 2011

China's Nuclear Arsenal: Status and Evolution

The Chinese government is not trying to reach numerical parity with the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal and does not have the nuclear material to do so, according to a briefing paper released by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). China currently possesses a relatively small nuclear arsenal, with an estimated 155 nuclear warheads ready to be deployed on six types of land-based missiles.

Approximately 50 of its 155 missiles can reach the continental United States. The United States, by comparison, currently has more than 1,700 deployed nuclear warheads that can reach China.

The briefing paper points out that China, unlike the United States, does not deploy its warheads on its missiles. Instead, it stores the warheads separately until missiles are prepared for launch. For this reason, under the counting rules agreed to in the recently ratified New START treaty between the United States and Russia, the total number of Chinese nuclear weapons would be counted as zero.

Read the briefing paper:

25.3.2011

Nuclear Energy and Weapons: Uncontrollable in Time and Space

By Alyn Ware

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan devastated a whole region. Radioactive emissions from the damaged nuclear reactors are very serious, and have already contaminated food and water, prompting a ban on food exports from four prefectures and a government warning not to give Tokyo tap water to babies. The crisis could impact human health and the environment on an even wider scale -- across Japan and around the globe.

Read on here: www.wagingpeace.org/articles/db_article.php

1. 3. 2011

The ultimate weapon of terrorism

By David Krieger

Nuclear weapons are the ultimate weapon of terrorism, whether in the hands of a terrorist organization or those of the leader of a country. They are weapons of mass annihilation that kill indiscriminately – men, women and children. Most people fear the possibility of these weapons falling into the hands of terrorist organizations, but never stop to consider that in any hands they are terrorist weapons.

Read on

15.2.2011

Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons

New signature campaign by the Japan Council against A & H Bombs

In August 1945, two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki instantly turned the two cities into ruins and took the lives of about 210 thousand people. Even now, more than 200,000 Hibakusha, or A-bomb survivors, are carrying with them scars. Their tragedy should not be repeated anywhere on earth.

The call for the elimination of nuclear weapons is becoming ever widespread across the world. Citizens are taking actions, and many governments are endeavoring to reach this goal. The surest guarantee against there being another Hiroshima, or Nagasaki, is a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

In May 2010, the 189 parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), including the Nuclear weapons States, agreed “to achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”. Now is the time to act to accomplish it. We call on all governments to enter negotiations without delay on a convention banning nuclear weapons.

Read on

27. October  2010

The Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons

By Alyn Ware, Director, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace

This Friday the United Nations General Assembly (First Committee) will vote on Draft resolution L.50, "Follow-up to the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons", which calls for negotiations leading to a nuclear weapons convention.

Draft resolution L.50 is a revamped version of the resolution adopted annually calling on implementation of the 1996 ICJ Advisory Opinion through the commencement of multilateral negotiations leading to the conclusion of a Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting the development, production, testing, deployment, stockpiling, transfer, threat or use of nuclear weapons and providing for their elimination.

Malaysia, in introducing the resolution, notes that it envisages a number of steps and measures leading to the conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention (NWC), thus providing a compromise between those who call for immediate NWC negotiations or adoption of a specified time-bound framework, and those who say it's too early start work on the required framework to achieve a nuclear weapons free world. The compromise approach in the resolution could thus be seen as a practical mix of idealism and realism.

Last year the vote was 124 in favour, 31 against and 21 abstaining. This year, the co-sponsors have made a number of changes hoping to decrease the opposing votes and increase the votes in favour. In particular, the resolution includes key language that was adopted by consensus at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference;

. affirming that International Humanitarian Law applies at all times,

. calling on the Nuclear Weapon States to undertake a number of concrete nuclear disarmament steps,

. stressing that all States need to make special efforts to achieve and maintain a world without nuclear weapons, and

. noting the UN Secretary-General' s five-point proposal for nuclear disarmament which proposes negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention or a framework of separate mutually reinforcing instruments.

For more information see:www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/FCM10/week3.html#momentum

See:

3. September 2010

The Nuclear Deals undermine Indian Science

Long term Nuclear Deals completed today will adversely affect life and liberty of next generations.

By Dhirendra Sharma

“There is no issue more urgent than the democratic control of nuclear power which was born in secrecy for destruction purposes,” said Mr. Tony Benn, Former British Energy Minister (1974-79).
It is for the constitutional probity, therefore, to be strictly operate to see that nuclear business does not violate the rights and liberty of future generations. The Indian government now announced its long-term nuclear commitment to generate 40,000 megawatts by 2030. The Prime Minister describes the Nuclear Deal as an attractive offer to help India meet its high-energy demands. But the Government, in formulating the Nuclear Deals, had not conducted interdepartmental discussions with the concerned ministries - Energy, Planning, Finance, Environment, and the Department of Science & Technology.

Read on

16. August 2010

The Myth of Nuclear Deterrence

A fantastic five-minute animated video directed by 18 year-old Erik Choquette, winner of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 2008 and 2009 Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contests.

You can watch the video online at www.youtube.com/watch
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a founding member organisation of INES.

If you would like to learn how to survive a nuclear attack, see Duck and Cover, the 5-minute movie produced by the US Federal Civil Defense Administration in 1951 and shown in schools through-out the US until the 1980s.
Watch the movie here: www.youtube.com/watch

6. August 2010

Appeal from Hiroshima

Conference in Japan: 65 Years After the First Atomic Bomb Dropping, the
Outlawing and Abolition of Weapons of Mass Destruction Are Now More
Urgent Than Ever.

By Reiner Braun

The abolition of nuclear weapons is now again on the agenda of international politics – fundamentally not more than ever, despite the disappointing outcome of the review conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May 2010 in New York. That was the commonly held point of view at the international congress from 2.-4. August in Hiroshima. More than 300 activists from 27 countries took part in this congress.

They showed a different perspective of the international situation, which connected with the European perspective, and made it clear actually how dangerous the use of nuclear weapons in Asia is. The conflict in and around Korea touched on the question, to what level of escalation will the US be prepared at to use nuclear weapons. But also: How far is North Korea going to drive its verbal nuclear war threat? When will provocations, which also serve as a political distraction in South Korea, be set back by diplomacy and détente?

Read on

Read this article in German published in the newspaper  "Junge Welt" on 7. August 2010:

www.jungewelt.de/2010/08-06/035.php

6. August 2010

Silence in Hiroshima

Memorial Service 65 Years after the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb: First Participation of the UN Secretary-General and a U.S. Representative

By Reiner Braun

On this Friday at 7:30 a.m. it is hot and humid in Hiroshima. There is silence with the tens of thousands of people in the Peace Park – all with candles or flowers. Young and old, men and women: all who come from different occupational groups and social strata. The traffic is still, in the otherwise loud, roaring atmosphere of the Japanese city of millions. For several minutes there is silence, which works in an almost spooky way in the peace park. The warning pictures and sculptures have an effect on everyone. Hardly a word is heard among the many people who are gathered there.

On August 6, 1945, at 8:14 a.m., two U.S. aircraft planes appeared in the blue sky. They seemed to carry “no risk”, recalls one survivor – in Japanese, hibakusha – from his memory.
Read on

6. August 2010

The Million Pleas initiative of ICAN

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a global grassroots movement for disarmament through a legally binding, verifiable and timebound Nuclear Weapons Convention.

The Million Pleas initiative was launched on 6 August 2010. This initiative aims to gather one million pleas from people all over the globe calling on the leaders of nine nations to finally retire the bomb.

Please visit www.icanw.org/node/5313 to learn about the plea or visit www.millionpleas.com/ to add your own plea.

For a Nuclear Weapon-free, Peace and Just World
10th World Conference against A & H Bombs

2.-8. August 2010  in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, JAPAN

Further information and program please visit:
www.antiatom.org/GSKY/en/WC/e10wc/1005_wcinfo.html

2. August 2010

Science Conference Against Nuclear Weapons

To begin the array of events on the occasion of the 65 anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japan Scientists’ Association (JSA) held an impressive “Scientists Forum” in Shizuoka.

More than 150 participants reaffirmed their principle rejection of all nuclear weapons and their unequivocal support behind a Nuclear Weapons Convention, as co-developed by INES and the IALANA.

The forum, held by the program director of INES, Reiner Braun, who introduced a definitive call for civil clauses at a side event at the NPT Review Conference in May 2010 in New York, called on all universities worldwide to adopt a single focus of research and education for civilian purposes in their university statutes and rules. “Military research is banned from many universities precisely because of the painful years of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were a result of the scientifically and military-oriented Manhattan Project”, said Braun. The Japanese science organization JSA, which is a member of INES, mutually supported a worldwide campaign for the civil clauses and began to collect signatures at the conference.

2. August 2010

Nuclear disarmament appeals 1945 - 2010. A compilation by the World Future Council and INES

On July 16th, 1945, the first atom bomb exploded at the Trinity Test Site in the New Mexico desert. Less than a month later atomic bombs would be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 250,000 people. A week before the 10 year commemoration of the Trinity Test, on July 9th 1955, Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell published the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in London in which they urged world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons and make an end to war. To draw attention to the global responsibility of scientists and engineers, the World Future Council and the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) have compiled an overview of relevant appeals made by scientific networks throughout the Nuclear Age.

1. August 2010

Message for Hiroshima Day 2010

By David Krieger

The Nuclear Age has entered its 65th year. The first test of a nuclear device took place on July 16, 1945 at the Alamogordo Test Range in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto Desert. The Spanish name of this desert means “Journey of Death,” a fitting name for the beginning point of the Nuclear Age. Just three weeks after the test, the United States destroyed the city of Hiroshima with a nuclear weapon, followed by the destruction of Nagasaki three days later. By the end of 1945, the Journey of Death had claimed more than 200,000 human lives and left many other victims injured and suffering.

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Appeal to the Indian Parliament to declare the entire South Asian sub-continent as a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone.

By Dhirendra Sharma

On 6 August 1945, in total disregard of the basic tenets of science and civilization, the first Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which created a new war paradigm: destroy an entire city. On 9 August, the second atom bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki. The sole purpose of creating the nuclear war science was to destroy and dominate other human beings. The Law of War, for 5000 years human history, avoided killing unarmed civilians and women, children, the sick and wounded were always protected. But at that hour, thousands of wounded soldiers and the sick civilians were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki hospitals. Tens of thousands of unarmed citizens – Buddhist and Christians, irrespective of gender, region and religion were killed instantly. The law of warfare was thus violated by a technically advanced democratic state that swore In God We Trust and claimed to follow the Christian morality.

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6. July 2010

A Concerned Citizens’ Memorandum on Nuclear Policy to the Prime Minister of India

By Dhirendra Sharma

No Parliamentary Committee had discussed the reliability and performance of a “Peaceful Nuclear” programme. Yet, our government has been negotiating nuclear deals with seven countries, including the United States and France, costing the nation more than US$ 150 billion. In view of the Bhopal fiasco, we, the young citizens and scientists ask the government to re-assess the social cost of the long-term Nuclear Power programme.

The post-Chernobyl accident (1986) studies and research have “reaffirmed what an abyss will open if nuclear (accident or) war befalls mankind. Inherent in the nuclear arsenals stockpiled are thousands upon thousands of potential disasters far more horrible than the Chernobyl one,’ concluded Dr. Mould in “Chernobyl: The Real
Story”(March 1988; ISBN-13: 978-0080357188).
In Europe thousands of animals were destroyed and helicopters, vehicles, buildings, machines, tools, roads, soil, trees, and forests were contaminated and abandoned.

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30. June 2010

Does Deterrence Really Deter?

By Martin Hellman

Calling nuclear deterrence by that name was a stroke of marketing genius for selling it to the public. Unfortunately, that stroke of genius was also a potential death sentence for us all by hiding another, more ominous aspect of this strategy.

To deter someone is “to discourage him from doing something, typically by instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.” Hence, deterrence implies that it will work, that it will deter adversaries from calling our nuclear bluff.

To read more please visit: wagingpeacetoday.blogspot.com/2010/06/does-deterrence-really-deter.html

12. June, 2010

British Petroluem, Imagination, and Nuclear Catastrophe

By David Krieger

Before the catastrophic British Petroleum oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico, there were environmentalists who warned that offshore drilling was fraught with risk - risk of exactly the type of environmental damage that is occurring. They were mocked by people who chanted slogans such as "Drill, baby, drill." Now it is clear that the "Drill, baby, drill" crowd was foolish and greedy. The economic wellbeing of people in and around the Gulf coast has been badly damaged and, for some, destroyed altogether. Aquatic and estuary life, in the Gulf and beyond, has fallen victim to an environmental disaster that was foreseeable with a modicum of vision and imagination.

Read on here: www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/12

May 29, 2010

Disputation on Nuclear Weapons

Article in the German Newspaper "Frankfurter Rundschau", 29. May, 2010

Of Elephants and Ants
On Saturday, the eighth Review Conference of the Nuclear Weapons Disarmament Treaty ended in New York. Powerful interest groups have geared up even further. The majority of people want a nuclear-free world. What is there to do? Reiner Braun, of the freedom movement, calls for a nuclear weapons convention, and Giorgio Franceschini, of the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Studies, favours pragmatic steps.
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See article in Frankfurter Rundschau in German: www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/politik/aktuell/

21. April 2010

Political relevance of the NPT review conference in 2010

Interview with Joseph Gerson, AFSC

INES:  Dr. Gerson, in 1995 the governments decided about the indefinte extention of the NPT. Why are Review conferences held? What is the political importance of the one in 2010?

Joseph Gerson: As part of the deal made to win the indefinite extension of the NPT in 1995, the nuclear powers, led by the United States, accepted non-nuclear nations’ demand that review conferences be held every five year to monitor implementation of the treaty – especially Article VI which requires the nuclear powers to begin “good faith” negotiations for the elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

Consistent with its belief that unilateral U.S. military actions and threats could enforce what Vice President Cheney termed ‘the arranged for the 21st century,” the Bush Administration subverted the 2005 Review Conference. By refusing to agree to an agenda until the Conference was half way over, and then refusing to engage in good faith negotiations, the Review Conference failed to reach any agreements and collapsed in failure. This resulted in delegitimizing the Treaty, placing it in jeopardy and increasing the likelihood of proliferation of  proliferation of genocidal and omnicidal nuclear weapons.

Read on:  Interview Joseph Gerson

March 26, 2010

US-Russia Nuclear Reduction Agreement an “Important Step Forward”

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation today welcomed the announcement of a new treaty to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia.

While exact details of the new agreement are not yet known, it is reassuring to see that the two countries are moving ahead with nuclear reductions after years of no progress.

However, two major obstacles remain to full cooperation between the two countries on nuclear disarmament. First, the two sides still strongly disagree on the US missile defense plans, which would put missiles and radar installations close to the Russian border. It appears that the two countries have been able to work around the issue in this new treaty, but resolution of this issue is essential to making further progress toward nuclear weapon-free world.

Second, the US Senate must ratify the new treaty with at least 67 votes. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation urges the Senate to ratify this new treaty without conditions that would undermine the disarmament progress that has been made. Some senators want to invest billions of dollars in new nuclear weapons production facilities in exchange for a “Yes” vote on ratification.

David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and the Chair of the Executive Committee of INES, said, “This new treaty is an important step toward President Obama’s stated goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. After this agreement is fully implemented, however, there will still be sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy civilization and most life on the planet. We will still be living with the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons, which requires us now to put the issue of a Nuclear Weapons Convention at the forefront of the debate.”

In a briefing booklet (see below) just published by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation for the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, the Foundation calls on all signatory states of the NPT to commence “negotiations in good faith on a Nuclear Weapons Convention for the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of nuclear weapons, and complete these negotiations by the year 2015.”

Dr. Krieger continued, “We believe that the time is right for the US and Russia to play a leadership role in bringing the other countries of the world into negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention.”

www.napf.org

February 15, 2010

International Coalition of over 250 Groups Launches Campaign Calling on Obama and World Leaders to Begin Negotiations to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons Worldwide

May UN non-proliferation treaty review conference is focal point for international organizing

New York– On today’s seventh anniversary of the largest peace demonstration in world history—the historic February 15, 2003 mobilization against the US-led war on Iraq that saw 12 million people around the world march for peace-- an international network of more than 250 organizations publicly launched a campaign to press US President Barack Obama and other world leaders to initiate negotiations to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide.

The coalition, organizing under the banner “For Peace and Human Needs: Disarmament Now!” calls for negotiations on ridding the planet of the scourge of nuclear weapons to begin at or before the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon) at the United Nations in New York City this May. 

“Representatives of the world’s governments will gather at the UN for nearly a month, to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime,” said Dr. Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC.)
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January 22, 2010

Nuclear disarmament should serve as the leading edge of a global trend toward demilitarization and redirection of resources to meet human needs and restore the environment.

Peace and justice now: new website about all activities at the NPT conference in New York City: peaceandjusticenow.org

Take a step towards a nuclear-free world!

Today, we launch a new website: For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! Hundreds of organizations from the US and around the globe are taking new steps, together, to renew the commitment to a nuclear free world.

For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! is a website dedicated to rebuilding the grassroots movement for nuclear disarmament and abolition! We need a nuclear disarmament movement to build momentum to cut the military budget for war to fund peace, jobs and justice in our communities.

President Obama shocked the world in Prague last April when he declared “I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” His call for real steps can only be realized through public debate, education and vocal support. And yes, marching in the streets.

For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! is a source for the most current writings and resources to take the grassroots movement for peace onto the new terrain of getting rid of all weapons of mass destruction.

Go to For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! to get involved in a massive international petition drive Let President Obama know that we want the administration to initiate good faith multilateral negotiations on an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons, within our lifetimes! Yes, we can!

We have a terrific opportunity in May to progress toward nuclear abolition at an important United Nations conference, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference. Government representatives and activists from around the world will gather at a variety of events to consider how to move toward a nuclear weapons-free world and strengthen measures to stop the spread of these deadly weapons. Join us in NYC April 30-May 2!

Yours in peace,

International Planning Committee for Nuclear Abolition, Peace, Sustainability and Justice
Website:  peaceandjusticenow.org

January 15, 2010

Scientists against the Nuclear Bomb

By Dhirendra Sharma

The recent visit of the Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Yukio Hatoyama offered an opportunity for India to lead the United Nations towards a Nuclear weapons free world order.  Japan and India can respond to challenges of the 21st century. It is an historical irony that the Japanese premier, asked New Delhi to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to accept the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

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Is global zero possible? The future of nuclear disarmament.

Public event at the German Parliament on December 15th, 2009, 17:30.

Speech and discussion with Alyn Ware, coordinator of Parlamentarians for Non-Nuclear Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) and Right Livelihood Laureate 2009.
Initiated by INES, IALANA and IPPNW.
Paul-Löbe-Haus, Konrad Adenauer-Str. 1, Entrance west, room PLH 4400

German members of the PNND are invited as well as Xanthe Hall (IPPNW), Peter Becker (IALANA), Reiner Braun (INES) and Monika Griefahn (Right Livelihood Foundation).

For participation it is mandatory to register! Please contact Uta Zapf, Member of the Bundestag at utazapfbundestagde

November 4, 2009

Global Fissile Material Report 2009

The International Panel on Fissile Materials has released its new report - "Global Fissile Material Report 2009: The Path to Nuclear Disarmament".

The report charts some of the key technical and policy steps for securing verifiable world-wide nuclear disarmament and eliminating the world's huge stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, the key materials for making nuclear weapons.
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September 24, 2009

US Leadership for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World at the UN

On September 24, 2009, President Barack Obama chaired a special session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) focusing on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The UNSC unanimously passed Resolution 1887, which calls for a nuclear weapons-free world.

Read press release of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
 

August 6, 2009

Hiroshima mayor Akiba calls for abolishing nuclear weapons

By Shizuo Kambayashi (AP)

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Hiroshima's mayor urged global leaders on Thursday to back President Barack Obama's call to abolish nuclear weapons as Japan marked the 64th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack.

In April, Obama said that the United States - the only nation that has deployed atomic bombs in combat - has a "moral responsibility" to act and declared his goal to rid the world of the weapons.

At a solemn ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, attack, Hiroshima's Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba welcomed that commitment.

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Geneva, August 5, 2009

International launch of new IPB publication:
Nuclear Weapons: At What Cost?

On August 6 a whole range of actions are organised around the world to mark the 64th anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima by atomic weapons. For 64 years people from all walks of life in all parts of the planet have mobilised to bring about their elimination. Nuclear weapons not only threaten massive destruction, but they also incur enormous costs. Apart from the damage caused by blast, fire and radioactive fallout from actual use in warfare, the weapons impose major financial, moral and political costs on nuclear weapons states and countries that host the weapons. The US alone spends annually over US$ 50 billion on its nuclear arsenal, and the global annual total is around $90 billion.

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July 1, 2009

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking in the new Nuclear Age Peace Foundation video.

In 27 years of working for nuclear disarmament, the INES member organisation Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org) has never seen a better opportunity to make significant progress towards our goal of a safer and more secure world through the phased, verifiable and irreversible elimination of all nuclear weapons.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has created a new DVD featuring U.S. President Barack Obama.

Become a member of INES to support the international movement for a nuclear weapons free world!
Application form

New International Scientific Studies (ISS) Publication on Science for Security

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) has a close and long-term connection to science. For over 50 years, scientists have been working together to develop and implement the most comprehensive and complex verification regime ever created. This regime is designed to monitor compliance with the CTBT by deterring and detecting any nuclear explosions conducted anywhere on Earth.

From 10 to 12 June 2009 around 600 diplomats and scientists from 99 countries gathered in Vienna, Austria, to present and discuss results from the International Scientific Studies (ISS) project that has engaged the scientific community since early 2008. The ISS Conference (ISS09) was organized by the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

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May 25, 2009

Facts on the second nuclear test by North Korea

On Monday, 25 May, the official news agency, KCNA, of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced its successful conduct of a second nuclear test: "The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defence in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians.” It further claimed that the test was safely conducted “on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control. The results of the test helped satisfactorily settle the scientific and technological problems arising in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons and steadily developing nuclear technology."

May 5, 2009

Support for Recommendation on Nuclear Weapons Convention Negotiations of NPT

A significant opportunity has arisen this week to make progress on significant multilateral nuclear disarmament steps and to build momentum for the achievement of a nuclear-weapons-free world. On 5 May US President Obama sent an inspiring message to the opening day at the United Nations of the two-week long preparatory meeting (Prep Com) for the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference - the first multilateral intergovernmental forum for non-proliferation and disarmament since President Obama was elected. This set the scene for a speedy adoption of the agenda for 2010 ? something that was expected to be subject to political difficulties and delays.

read on: http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/updates/alert_2009_05_11.html

April 24, 2009

European Parliament recommends complete nuclear disarmament by 2020

Strasbourg, April 24, 2009 - Today the European Parliament approved with a majority of 177 votes against 130 an amendment introducing the "Model Nuclear Weapons Convention" and the "Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol" (attached) as concrete tools to achieve a nuclear weapons free world by 2020. The amendment was introduced by the Ana Gomes for the PES and Angelika Beer for the Greens/EFA. The amendment received cross-party support (1) during the Plenary vote here in Strasbourg today. Especially Frieda Brepoels for the EPP-DE and Annemie Neyts and Juul Maaten for the ALDE called to support the vision of a nuclear weapon free world by 2020. The approval of the amendment (2) demonstrates that the EP is increasing pressure to make nuclear disarmament by 2020 a top-priority for the EU member states. Here the EP demonstrates leadership and an intention to become a visible actor following President Obama's statements for a NWFW in Prague.

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6. April 2009

President Obama Calls for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons

By David Krieger

In a remarkable speech for any American leader, President Obama, speaking in Prague on April 5, 2009, provided new hope for a world free of nuclear weapons. I state clearly and with conviction,he said, America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.He told his audience that America, as the only country to have used nuclear weapons, has a moral responsibility to act.

For many years the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has been calling for US leadership for a nuclear weapons-free world, based on the understanding that if the US does not lead, significant progress will not be possible.For the past two presidencies this leadership has been largely lacking. During the George W. Bush presidency, the US was the leading obstacle to nuclear disarmament. Now, with President Obama, there is a dramatic shift and the goal of US leadership for a nuclear weapons-free world that once seemed far distant, if not impossible, appears at hand.
President Obama's speech in Prague was a world changing moment, a promise of unprecedented historical change on the most profoundly dangerous issue confronting not only America but the world. In this speech he recognized the imperative for our common security of eliminating nuclear weapons and of America's unique moral responsibility to lead this effort.

He made it clear that while America cannot do it alone, it will lead by its actions. He called for concrete steps, including reducing the role of nuclear weapons in US national security strategy and urging other nuclear weapons states to do the same, reducing the number of nuclear weapons in its arsenal, working aggressively for US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, seeking a new treaty to end production of fissile materials for weapons, strengthenin g the Non-Proliferation Treaty, creating an international fuel bank to reduce the risks of proliferation, assuring that nuclear weapons will not be acquired by terrorists, leading an international effort to gain control of vulnerable nuclear materials throughout the world within four years, and hosting a Global Summit on Nuclear Security within the year.

President Obama recognized that a world without nuclear weapons will not be reached quickly. He cautioned that such a world may not occur within his lifetime, and that achieving it will require patience and persistence. But this was not a speech about timeframes or deadlines. It was a speech setting forth a much needed vision and providing a promise of US leadership. He has taken an important step toward the goal of a nuclear weapons-free world by articulating this vision and committing to work toward it. Now a more comprehensive plan must be formulated and implemented.

With the political will that President Obamahas provided, it is possible that we could move far more rapidly toward a world of zero nuclear weapons than could previously be imagined.Political will and US leadership have been the most significant missing elements for achieving a world free of nuclear weapons. Now that these elements are in place, we may be surprised by how quickly the planning and implementation process can proceed toward the total global elimination of these unconscionable weapons.

President Obama is a man of great vision, a leader that sees beyond the horizon. When he encounters a problem requiring change, he addresses it and proposes solutions. His leadership on the issue of a nuclear weapons-free world comes none too soon.In his speech, he has faced the threat of nuclear weapons squarely. The vision and the initial steps toward achieving it that he has articulated deserve our strong support.

As President Obama noted, there will be many who will say that it cannot be done. But these naysayers cannot steal the future from those who seek a world free of nuclear threat or those committed to building a world at peace.The President will need the American people standing with him and saying, Yes, we can.

David Krieger is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org).

20. January, 2009

Nobel Prize Laureates address US President Obama in an open letter to use the existing Model Nuclear Weapons Convention as a starting point for the path into a nuclear weapons free world

Today, twelve Nobel Prize Laureates and a former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations addressed US President Barack Obama. In an open letter they remind President Obama of his promise to seek a world in which there are no nuclear weapons. Pointing to the shortfalls of the existing international regime for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, Sir Harold Kroto (Nobel Prize for Chemistry), Member of the Advisory Council of INES, and his co-signers remind Barack Obama of the recent suggestion by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to use the existing Model Nuclear Weapons Convention as a starting point for the path into a nuclear weapons free world. ...

United Nations Flag Source: Wikipedia

Diplomatic Roundtable on the Nuclear Weapons Convention

On November 13, 2008 Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) joined the Costa Rican Mission to the United Nations, the Simons Foundation, the International Network of Engineers and Scientists against Proliferation (INESAP) and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) in co-sponsoring a day-long diplomatic roundtable at the United Nations in Geneva (Palais des Nations) on Steps toward a Nuclear Weapons Convention: Exploring and developing legal and political aspects. ... read on

July 2008: INES and NAPF Appeal to the University of California

Stop your involvement in the development and improvement of nuclear weapons!

To the President and Regents of the University of California:
Universities play an important role in society. They are institutions that bring together experts to transmit knowledge to successive waves of young adults coming of age. In the process, they train citizens and future societal leaders. Universities should set an example to the youth they train and to the general society, reflecting the highest standards of civilization and ethical behavior.

Public Comment

The University of California and the Nuclear Weapons Labs

Dear Friends,

On July 17th, I spoke in the public comment session to the UC Regents about the UC's oversight and management of the principal US nuclear weapons laboratories.After keeping the public waiting outside for two hours past the time scheduled for public comments, the Regents allotted one minute per speaker.The article below is a slight elaboration on what I said in my one minute.

This Sunday, July 27th at 10:00 a.m., KPFK (FM 98.7 and 90.7) will broadcast a half-hour interview on the subject that I did with Blase Bonpane on his excellent show World Focus. After it airs, the show will be available at www.kpfk.org, and can be accessed internationally and 24/7 by going to archives and then clicking on World Focus. It is also available for podcast.

David

David Krieger
President
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
PMB 121, 1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 1
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
www.wagingpeace.org
www.nuclearfiles.org

An Appeal to the President of the United States

US Leadership for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World

Nuclear weapons could destroy civilization and end intelligent life on the planet.

The only sure way to prevent nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism and nuclear war – before the next blinding flash – is to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

The era of nuclear weapons must be brought to an end.  This can be done.  It will require leadership and commitment.  Nuclear weapons were created by humans, and it is our responsibility to eliminate them before they eliminate us. 

The United States, as the world’s most militarily powerful nation, must take the initiative in convening and leading the nations of the world to urgently take the following steps: ...

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Take Action!

Send President-elect Obama a 100-Day Agenda for Nuclear Disarmament

President-elect Obama Source: barrackobama.com

The incoming Obama administration has an historic opportunity to lead the world to complete nuclear disarmament, and all of us have the responsibility to make sure they stay on track.
President-elect Obama has stated, A world without nuclear weapons is profoundly in America's interest and the world's interest. It is our responsibility to make the commitment, and to do the hard work to make this vision a reality.
He's right: the work will be hard, but together we can accomplish this goal. Today we are asking you to take one easy step to make sure the Obama administration keeps nuclear weapons at the top of itspriority list.
We have created a 100-day agenda for nuclear disarmament. If President-elect Obama adopts this agenda for his first 100 days in office, he will set the tone for substantial progress on this essential issue.
Take a moment to read the 100-day agenda and, if you support it, send it to Mr. Obama along with your own comments. With strong leadership from the President-elect and support from you, a nuclear weapons-free world is not only possible, but within reach.

Click here to take action now.

INES at European Social Forum (ESF)

Malmö/Sweden, September 17-21, 2008

INES seminar at ESF:

Towards a nuclear-weapons free Europe and a nuclear-weapons free world

in cooperation with:

World Court Project UK
Swedish Scientists and Engineers Against Nuclear Arms (SEANA)
Pugwash Denmark
IPPNW Sweden

Friday, September 19, 2008
9:30 - 12:30

• Speech by Dominique Lalanne, Abolition 2000-Europe; Stop Essais
  Dominique Lalanne is Director of Research in nuclear and particle physics at the French Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
• Speech by John Scales Avery, Against Nuclear Weapons
• Visit ESF website

08.02.2008

Exhibition launch: 'The Nuclear Dilemma'

26th February 2008 at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva.

A unique visual-communication project about the history of nuclear technology; providing valuable tools for people to form clear perspectives on its past and present uses and enabling dialogue and research for a safer future.

Produced by REAL Exhibition Development. Co-produced by The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva

Supported by INES

www.nucleardilemma.org
infonucleardilemmaorg

Press Info: download here
Introduction: download here

Upcoming presentations:

26th February - 29th July 2008
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva.
visit website

9th September - 9th January 2009
Gernika Peace Museum, Spain
visit website

March - May 2009
World House of Culture, Berlin, Germany
visit website

03.04.2006

Appeal to European and World Leaders to eliminate the Nuclear Weapons Threat

The threat of nuclear annihilation, by accident or design, remains the gravest threat to civilization confronting Europe and the World. The 480 US nuclear weapons based in Europe contribute to this threat. We call upon European and World leaders to take action in confronting and ending this threat.

For the safety and security of the peoples of Europe and the World, we appeal:

To the leaders of the non-nuclear European governments, to move toward the elimination of the nuclear weapons threat.

Abolition 2000

Past, Present and Future

In May 1995, during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review and Extension Conference at the United Nations in New York, citizen action groups from around the world recognized that the declared nuclear weapons states were unwilling to discuss complete nuclear disarmament as stipulated in the treaty .These organizations drafted an Abolition Statement that would become the founding document of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons.

In 2001, Abolition 2000 held its annual general meeting in Saffron Walden, UK. The participants of the conference adopted a declaration which...

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