North Korea and the clock
Should the hands of the nuclear clock be moved closer to midnight in light of North Korea's recent nuclear test? Kennette Benedict, executive director of the Ploughshares-funded Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, highlights events and changes affecting the clock, including positive steps by former and current government officials in “the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia, and elsewhere, for a ‘world free of nuclear weapons.’” However, she points out, “These developments don't mean that the world is safe from nuclear catastrophe,” particularly with a nuclear-armed North Korea. She concludes, “Without robust cooperative efforts to bring nuclear weapons and material under control, and the enforcement of effective laws to prohibit their production and use, we still face catastrophe from the most dangerous technology on Earth.” Find more information on North Korea from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists here.