Avatar photoSubcritical Experiments

There was a minor dustup on Twitter between my colleague, Jon Wolfsthal, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Like many discussions on Twitter, 140 characters at a time just didn’t get the job done. At issue is an important article that Frank von Hippel wrote proposing transparency surrounding subcritical experiments.  Frank’s article was occasioned by a …

Avatar photoHow about an iPad?

The Department of State’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (which in any just universe would be abbreviated ACVC), in partnership with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Center for Policy Studies (PIR) in Russia, is launching an essay contest. Here is the formal explanation of the 2012-13 International Arms Control Essay Contest: Innovation Through Open Source …

Avatar photoDeath and Disability

A young man named Bob Dole from Russell, Kansas left home and fought in Italy during World War II, where he sustained wounds that required over three years of hospitalization. He fought off these crippling injuries, found a knack for politics, and rose to become the Senate’s Republican Leader. In 1996, he was nominated by …

Avatar photoSutyagin on Russia’s TacNukes

Igor Sutyagin — yes that Igor Sutyagin — has published a fascinating occasional paper for RUSI entitled, Atomic Accounting: A New Estimate of Russia’s Non-Strategic Nuclear Forces. Apparently, the Russian stockpile may not be quite as large as we believe.