Get to Know the Nuclear Threat

How many nukes do you think are needed for deterrence?

Campaign priorities for a world free from nuclear weapons.

The most devastating military threat arguably comes from a nuclear war started not intentionally but by accident or miscalculation.

The threat of nuclear confrontation is growing. But even unused, nuclear weapons have a destructive impact. What will it take for world leaders to abandon nuclear arms? And how can you help?

Country profiles include an overview of each country’s nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile programs, in-depth information on participation in relevant nonproliferation treaties and regimes, compilations of countries’ official documents relating to nonproliferation, and links to related content.

The documentary Nuclear Tipping Point tackles nuclear dangers, featuring Shultz, Perry, Kissinger, and Nunn.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making. It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet.

Every survivor has a story. The hibakusha, or those who survived the nuclear attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are the best known nuclear survivors, but they are not the only ones. Downwinders grew up near America’s nuclear testing and production…

An interactive app to see how many people would be affected by a nuclear explosion in your neighborhood.

Five nuclear policy solutions which would make both the US and the world safer.

This glossary is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Modern nuclear weapons work by combining chemical explosives, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion.

While the global stockpile of nuclear weapons has been significantly reduced since the Cold War, there are still an estimated 14,000 nuclear weapons in nine different countries — 93% of which belong to the United States and Russia.

Download the brief here.

Nuclear issues, news, and analysis by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

NTI’s Education Center offers extensive educational content related to nuclear policy, biological weapons, radiological security, and cyber threats for undergraduate and graduate courses in international relations, security studies, diplomacy, nuclear sciences, and more.

Tutorials cover the basics on nuclear weapons and materials and go deeper into specific aspects of global nuclear security, from missiles and delivery systems to radiological security and more.

Have there ever been accidents involving nuclear weapons? Yes.

What is nuclear deterrence and does it work?

A nuclear war using as few as 100 weapons anywhere in the world would disrupt the global climate and agricultural production so severely that the lives of more than two billion people would be in jeopardy from mass starvation.

A glossary of common nuclear terms and acronyms.

What is the plan to modernize nuclear weapons?

Technology Could Ease Information Sharing Among Distrustful Parties

HOW COULD NUCLEAR TERRORISM OCCUR? Terrorists don’t need to build an ICBM to unleash a nuclear attack on a large population center. The most plausible attack scenarios involve crude nuclear weapons constructed using low-grade fissile material (uranium or plutonium). Such…

A summary of all of the most relevant facts about nuclear weapons.

The road to a world free of nuclear weapons.

Progress on US nuclear weapons policy may be slow and incremental—but it’s possible.

The role of automation in the nuclear sphere, and how the proliferation of AI technologies could change nuclear posturing and the effectiveness of deterrence.

Meteorologist Alan Robock from Rutgers University and physicist Brian Toon from the University of Colorado discuss what is potentially the most devastating consequence of nuclear war: nuclear winter.

Space-based missile defense is an ineffectual defense at best, and a very dangerous provocation at worst.

Instead of planning for nuclear disarmament, the nuclear-armed states appear to plan to retain large arsenals for the indefinite future, are adding new nuclear weapons, and are increasing the role that such weapons play in their national strategies.

Nuclear weapons are the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created.

The Nuclear Information Project provides the public with reliable information about the status and trends of the nuclear weapons arsenals of the world’s nuclear-armed countries.

Humanity might well not survive a nuclear war using even a fraction of the arsenals in existence today.

Despite progress, the nuclear threat is more complex and unpredictable than ever.

What is the nuclear triad?

The superpowers plan to invest over a trillion dollars upgrading their nuclear arsenals, which many experts believe increases the risk of nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, and accidental nuclear war.

Here’s every nuclear weapon in the US arsenal.

Learn more about all of the countries that support nuclear weapons.

The e-briefing you are about to enter shows the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.

Former US Defense Secretary Bill Perry’s Nuclear Nightmare

Ira asks you to take action to end nuclear in all forms forever.

A video showing how easy to rid the world of nuclear bombs, one warhead at a time.

Brian Toon on nuclear winter.

Will a nuclear bomb be used again?

Henry Reich with MinutePhysics and FLI’s Max Tegmark got together to produce an awesome and entertaining video about just how scary nuclear weapons are.

What is nuclear miscalculation and what makes it more likely to happen?

Nuclear weapons are the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. That is why it is time to end them, before they end us.