Americans do need to pay more attention to nuclear weapons (“Presidential stakes are high for nuclear arsenal,” Editorial, May 25), especially as each citizen carries the heavy burden of their cost. Estimates have the United States spending $1 trillion over the next three decades on our nuclear arsenal.
See my full letter at the Boston Globe.
Filed under nuclear weapons, Uncategorized
Nuclear Weapons Test during the 1950s. (National Archives photo)
A new petition at CARE2 calls on the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The treaty bans all nuclear weapons test explosions.
The Senate has to ratify the treaty for the U.S to join. Nine countries, including the United States, still need to ratify the treaty for it to enter into force. The other eight countries include China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan. Russia has already ratified the CTBT.
Ellen Tauscher, Undersecretary for Arms Control, says, “The CTBT is central to leading nuclear weapons states toward a world of diminished reliance on nuclear weapons and reduced nuclear competition.”
The petition reads:
We the undersigned ask you to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). A global ban of nuclear test explosions benefits U.S. national security.
The CTBT is a step toward nuclear disarmament. The treaty is a step away from a costly arms race which new nuclear test explosions would certainly invoke.
Nuclear weapons spending drains our society of resources better spent on domestic and international priorities. Ratification of the CTBT will be vital for moving forward on further agreements related to worldwide nuclear disarmament.
Our Stockpile Stewardship Program can maintain our current nuclear arsenal. The CTBT international monitoring system will ensure there is compliance with the treaty globally.
The threat of nuclear war, nuclear terrorism and the massive cost of nuclear arsenals make the CTBT very much in our interest. We ask that you support ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Thank you for reading this petition.
You can sign the petition at CARE2
Filed under nuclear weapons
This concise book traces the history of nuclear weapons from World War II through the Cold War to the present day. You will also read about issues such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear testing, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and nuclear terrorism. This book also examines efforts to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as proposed by President Dwight Eisenhower in his “Atoms for Peace” speech. This edition includes a report prepared by the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey titled “The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Table of Contents
Chapter One: The Atomic Bomb
Chapter Two: Nuclear Weapons and the Cold War
Chapter Three: Atoms For Peace and Open Skies
Chapter Four: Nuclear Weapons and the Public
Chapter Five: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Limited Test Ban Treaty
Chapter Six: Nuclear Proliferation
Chapter Seven: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Chapter Eight: Nuclear Terrorism
Chapter Nine: Conclusion
Appendix -The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Memorandum by the Chief of Staff, U.S.
Air Force to the Secretary of Defense on
Long Range Detection of Atomic Explosions
Memorandum of Conference with the President
Documents on Nuclear Test Ban Negotiations
Facts About Fallout
Worldwide Reaction to Communist China’s Third Nuclear Explosion
Joint Statement of the Fourth Round of the Six Party Talks Beijing, September 19, 2005
An Antarctic Solution for the Koreas
Index
Nuclear Weapons is available from
Filed under Books, History, nuclear weapons
Author William Lambers 