A nuclear bomb detonating in Germany would instantly kill hundreds of thousands of people, Greenpeace has said, calling on the US to withdraw the small arsenal of atomic weapons it currently has in the country. The environmental non-profit released a study it had commissioned simulating the impact of a nuclear weapon exploding in Germany on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

Euro News 5th Aug 2020 read more »

Progress on securing weapons-usable nuclear materials around the globe has slowed in the past two years, ending a period of substantial improvement from 2012 to 2018, according to a new report from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nongovernmental organization based in Washington, DC. For a fifth straight time in their biennial nuclear security report, NTI researchers ranked Australia as the top country for the strength of its measures to protect weapons-usable materials. Receiving 93 of a possible 100 points on the Nuclear Security Index, Australia possesses 1–10 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU), according to the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM). That is well below the 25 kg that the NTI says is the minimum amount required to fashion a crude nuclear device.

Physics Today 10th Aug 2020 read more »

Lessons of Nagasaki survivors should motivate the world to eliminate all nuclear weapons – UN chief. UN Secretary General António Guterres on Sunday marked 75 years since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki with praise for the hibakusha, the survivors, who transformed their decades-long plight into a warning about the perils of nuclear weapons and an example of the triumph of the human spirit.

UN News 9th Aug 2020 read more »

Jeremy Corbyn: Nuclear weapons cannot solve the crises of our time.

Morning Star 9th Aug 2020 read more »

Nagasaki mayor condemns nuclear weapons states on 75th anniversary of city’s atom bombing.

Morning Star 10th Aug 2020 read more »

Fabian Hamilton: On the 75th anniversary of Nagasaki, a world free of nuclear weapons remains a distant dream – here’s why.

Independent 9th Aug 2020 read more »

The mayor of Nagasaki on Sunday pushed the government to take more action toward achieving a world free of nuclear weapons amid a global lack of leadership on the issue. In his memorial address on the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue specifically asked the government to sign and ratify a U.N. treaty banning nuclear arsenals that was adopted in 2017 but is still not in force.

Japan Times 9th Aug 2020 read more »

ITV 9th Aug 2020 read more »

Presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Thursday he will strive for a world without nuclear weapons, criticizing Republican President Donald Trump for undermining past efforts to curb the dangers of such arsenals.

Japan Times 7th Aug 2020 read more »

On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima that obliterated much of the city and sent a mushroom cloud tens of thousands of feet into the air. After 75 years, it continues to cast a shadow over world affairs. The bombing of Nagasaki three days later was the second and final time the atomic bomb saw use in war. On Aug. 15, Japan announced its surrender. The weapons caused unparalleled destruction, snuffing out more than 150,000 lives. But those were not the last people to die as a result of nuclear detonations. In the decades since 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union and at least six other countries set off a total of more than 2,000 nuclear test explosions, which caused tens of thousands of deaths around the world, according to some estimates, along with displacement and environmental degradation that long remained secret and continue to affect communities today.

Washington Post 5th Aug 2020 read more »

Member authorities of the UK & Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) are cooperating with other Mayors for Peace members, local and national peace and faith groups, and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as they remember the 75thanniversary of the use of nuclear weapons in the Second World War. On the 6thand 9thAugust 1945, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were largely destroyed by the first use of nuclear weapons in warfare. The hydrogen bomb and the plutonium bomb immediately killed as many as 130,000 people, and by the end of the year that figure had risen to over 200,000 people, due to the effects of radiation and the severe injuries many had endured.

NFLA 4th Aug 2020 read more »

The Scottish First Minister, in her reply to a letter from Setsuko Thurlow, who at the age of 13 survived the US nuclear attack on Hiroshima, has re-iterated her government’s opposition to nuclear weapons and its support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

ICAN Scotland 3rd Aug 2020 read more »

CAMPAIGNERS called for a “vigorous and united” movement to abolish nuclear weapons today, as a new report warned of the bomb’s role in climate catastrophe. Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks later this week, Don’t Bank on the Bomb’s study argues that ridding Britain of its nuclear stockpile is essential in addressing climate change. Nuclear Weapons, the Climate and Our Environment warns that the combination of a new arms race and increasing disruption from climate change make nuclear war more likely. Its author Linda Pearson wrote: “When climate change impacts the availability of key resources such as water, there is a risk that inter-state rivalry will turn into conflict involving nuclear weapons.” The risk is heightened because “key arms control agreements have been terminated” – the Donald Trump administration has torn up the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, for example. The report details how uranium mining and weapons testing cause widespread environmental devastation, with indigenous lands and peoples often the worst affected.

Morning Star 3rd Aug 2020 read more »

My grandfather, the man who helped build the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. As we approach the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb, Emily Strasser reckons with her family’s role in the atrocity.

Telegraph 1st Aug 2020 read more »

Over the next week, two anniversaries recall cataclysmic events in the closing days of the second World War: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, and Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. There was added poignancy in Nagasaki as the city was home to one of the oldest and largest Christian communities in East Asia, and the cathedral was 500m from ground zero.

Irish Times 4th Aug 2020 read more »

The cost of UK programmes to replace Trident and nuclear submarines on the Clyde increased by over £1 billion in a year, according to data released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The construction of new reactor cores, replacement submarines and major new facilities at the Faslane and Coulport bases in Argyll are also facing prolonged delays, with growing doubts over whether some projects can be successfully delivered. Most of the delays are unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic. Four major nuclear projects have been officially rated as “amber” or worse, meaning that they have “significant issues”. Two have been “rebaselined” by the MoD, meaning that costs have risen significantly and timescales lengthened.

The Ferret 2nd Aug 2020 read more »

The National 2nd Aug 2020 read more »

In milestone year, A-bomb survivor keeps up fight for nuclear disarmament.

Reuters 3rd Aug 2020 read more »

The UK has been lobbying the US Congress in support of a controversial new warhead for Trident missiles, claiming it is critical for “the future of Nato as a nuclear alliance”. A letter from Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, seen by the Guardian, urged Congress to support initial spending on the warhead, the W93. The letter, sent in April but not previously reported, draws the UK into a US political debate, pitting the Trump administration against many Democrats and arms control groups over whether the $14bn W93 programme is necessary. The US navy already has two warheads to choose from for its submarine-launched Trident missiles. The close cooperation on the W93 casts further doubt on the genuine independence of the UK deterrent – parliament first heard about it when US officials accidentally disclosed Britain’s involvement in February – and the commitment of both countries to disarmament.

Guardian 1`st Aug 2020 read more »

Russia’s apparent test-firing of an anti-satellite weapon in outer space on 15 July, as alleged by the US and Britain, could be dismissed as another of Vladimir Putin’s annoying provocations. That would be a mistake. The alleged new space weapon should be seen in the broader context of a rapidly evolving, hi-tech, high-risk international arms race involving all the major nuclear powers that, largely undiscussed, is spinning out of control.

Observer 2nd Aug 2020 read more »

China will rival the US and Russia in nuclear capability by the end of the decade, leading to a three-way face-off for the first time, an American commander said yesterday. Throughout the Cold War the US and Soviet Union were the only peer competitors, each with long-range nuclear weapons delivered by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched missiles and strategic bombers. However, China has made such a rapid advance in nuclear weaponry that it will also have all three components — the nuclear triad — when its dedicated strategic bomber becomes operational. The H-20 is the first stealth bomber to be designed in China.

Times 1st August 2020 read more »