Oppenheimer is expected to win big at the Oscars this year – and no wonder, since the film brought to life the power and horror of the 20th century’s most destructive weapon. This history gave birth to our organization – Federation of American Scientists – and last year, FAS awarded Christopher Nolan a FAS Public Service Award for his work bringing the nuclear issue back into mainstream conversation. And yet…
Nuclear weapons aren’t history.
We stand with our friends at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) who have launched an Oscar-related awareness campaign, For Your Consideration: Make Nukes History. This installation of banners in and around the Dolby Theater and online resources remind us that nuclear weapons are still an existential threat.
Here, briefly, is the work FAS is doing to address the nuclear threat still active today, and we invite you to learn more and get involved:
Nuclear Information Project
The Nuclear Information Project, called “one of the most widely sourced resources for nuclear warhead counts” by The Washington Post, is the best available unclassified estimates of the status and trends of nuclear weapons worldwide.
Through this work we remain committed to informing the public and holding our government to account. Recent examples:
- We tell the public when new nuclear capabilities are being added to our military bases (Barksdale Air Force Base) and when taxpayers foot the nuclear weapons bill exceeding estimates by billions of dollars without oversight (Sentinel ICBM program).
- We notify the public when we discover changes that could impact national defense (nuclear-capable Russian submarine fleet) and when our government wants to increase the number of nuclear weapons (Strategic Posture Report).
- We remind Americans that their vote is crucial because the U.S. President is the sole decision maker to launch a nuclear weapon!
Nuclear Notebook
We produce the Nuclear Notebook, in conjunction with The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, on a monthly basis. Coming soon: this year’s tally of Russian weapons (March 7th).
New Voices Nuclear Weapons
Additionally, FAS is committed to supporting the next generation of nuclear weapon studies. Learn more about this fellowship.
We wish Oppenheimer success at the awards. But more importantly, we wish humanity the ability to see this issue with clarity and take action to reduce this ongoing global threat.
Get involved. Follow FAS’s work on our website and in our monthly newsletter. Contact me press@fas.org to learn more or speak with any of our nuclear weapons experts.
This report outlines a framework relying on “Cooperative Technical Means” for effective arms control verification based on remote sensing, avoiding on-site inspections but maintaining a level of transparency that allows for immediate detection of changes in nuclear posture or a significant build-up above agreed limits.
The grant comes from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) to investigate, alongside The British American Security Information Council (BASIC), the associated impact on nuclear stability.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.