US would be safer without nuclear weapons

Dr. Lawrence Wittner, Professor of History emeritus at the State University of New York/Albany, argues that the U.S. would be much better off today without nuclear weapons. Writing in the Huntington News, Wittner states: "They fail to deter war (which has raged on ceaselessly among nuclear and non-nuclear nations since World War II), they are enormously costly, and—thanks to the nuclear arms race that followed the U.S. nuclear weapons breakthrough of 1945—Americans, for the first time in their history, face the prospect of total annihilation. In addition, the U.S. government has vast superiority over all other countries when it comes to conventional war. " Read the full article.

Cesium-137 from atomic tests still in Japanese waters

Levels of the radioactive substance cesium-137, which fell into the sea due to Cold War-era atmospheric nuclear tests, have remained constant in waters near Japan for the past 10 years, study results showed Wednesday, reports the Kyodo News. Despite a decrease at the rate of cesium-137's half-life, or about 30 years, levels have remained constant due to the inflow of the substance on the oceanic current from the south. An analysis by the research team has shown that the substance went up to the stratosphere in nuclear explosions and fell in the largest quantities over the Pacific side of the Japanese archipelago and the East Coast of the U.S. after being carried by the jet stream and other high-altitude currents.

Not-so-"stealthy" British nuke submarine strands off Scotland

Charting a path toward eliminating nuclear weapons

An new article by Zia Mian in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, looks at the challenges facing the transition to a nuclear-free world. These include the nature of the disarmament process, the issue of reversibility, the management and elimination of stockpiles of fissile materials, and the risks of nuclear weapon reconstruction and proliferation using materials and capabilities in civilian nuclear energy programs. Read the full article. Mian is a physicist and directs the Project for Peace and Security in South Asia at Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security.

Japanese A-bomb survivors unhappy at U.S. subcritical atomic test

Victims of atomic bombings in Japan expressed their disappointment at U.S. President Barack Obama after his administration carried out its first subcritical nuclear test last month. Haruko Moritaki, 71, co-director of the Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA) said: "It was a sign that the U.S. government is poised to maintain its nuclear development and capability while advocating a world without nuclear weapons. Such a contradiction is unforgivable. Furthermore, his approach can give countries like India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea an excuse to hold onto their nuclear arsenals."