United States

The United States invented nuclear weapons, operates the second largest nuclear force in the world and holds the dubious distinction of being the only country to use these weapons in combat. As a result, the U.S. has a special responsibility to lead the way in reducing its own nuclear weapons stockpile and calling for other nuclear armed nations to follow suite. Following is analysis and opinion from Ploughshares Fund staff, grantees and guests on the ongoing struggle to deal with nuclear weapons in the United States.

  • Fukushima 2013 to 20013? Legacy of the Nuclear Age

    Next week marks the second anniversary of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima reactors in Japan. Remember? The days and weeks we collectively crossed our fingers as heroic workers improvised and threw everything they could at melting reactors and damaged spent fuel pools to stave off disaster...

    March 7, 2013 - By Paul Carroll
  • Today, Foreign Affairs published "Obama's Nuclear Future: The Battle to Reduce the U.S. Nuclear Stockpile Begins" by Joe Cirincione. He looks at the past and likely future of President Obama's policies and how we might finally break the grip of Cold War thinking on our nuclear posture.

    March 6, 2013 - By admin
  • It will be days or weeks before the world knows much about the nuclear test conducted by North Korea mid-day Tuesday local time in Pyongyang. What was its actual yield? What did it use – plutonium or highly enriched uranium, or some combination? Did it perform as expected? What will the international response be? Is this a game changer?

    February 12, 2013 - By Paul Carroll
  • At an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, James M. Acton, Steven Pifer and Elbridge Colby discussed measures outside of formal treaties that could reduce nuclear risks between the U.S. and Russia.

    January 30, 2013 - By Alyssa Demus
  • Plutonium Waste Begets Budget Waste

    Many in Congress fumed last year when a green energy company – Solyndra – defaulted on a $535 million government loan, resulting from some bad management decisions and the market falling out from under the company. What happens when the government spends $5 billion on a poorly managed plutonium...

    January 23, 2013 - By Ben Loehrke
  • We see the same story play out in the news almost every day. Costs are rising, revenues are falling and programs and infrastructure that we use all the time are seeing their funding cut. But what’s happening to the things we don’t use and don’t need? The U.S. operates an outsized strategic nuclear force. How much is that costing taxpayers?

    July 2, 2012 - By Peter Fedewa
  • The State Department released the latest data on New START today, making public the count of warheads now deployed by both the U.S. and Russia and revealing the progress toward full compliance with the treaty.

    June 1, 2012 - By admin
  • Ploughshares Fund board member Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) honored America’s veterans with President Barack Obama at the Vietnam War Memorial on May 28. I was in the audience as his guest when the Senator reminded us, “There is no glory in war, only suffering.”

    May 29, 2012 - By Joe Cirincione
  • The ratification of New START by the U.S. and Russia set a new ceiling for deployed strategic nuclear weapons at 1,550 in each country. Given the cost of maintaining these weapons and their lack of utility on the modern battlefield, the U.S. could (and should) go even lower.

    May 18, 2012 - By Peter Fedewa
  • In tight budget times, the U.S. Navy cannot afford to waste funds on excessive capabilities for outdated Cold War weapons. Yet that is what some in Congress are attempting to do by blocking retirement of excess nuclear-armed submarines.

    May 14, 2012 - By Ben Loehrke