Beyond Nuclear on "Loud & Clear" Radio: Must Be 'Bigger'--Trump Demands Eight-Fold Increase in Nuclear Weapons

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  11:20 12.10.2017

  Must Be 'Bigger': Trump Demands Eight-Fold Increase in Nuclear Weapons

  On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and Walter Smolarek are joined by Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear.

UCS: We must prevent nuclear war at all costs

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has published the following action alert:

This month marks the 55th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis—a tense military and political standoff between the United States and the then Soviet Union in October 1962. That 13-day period is often considered the closest our country ever came to nuclear war. Unfortunately, current events make it feel like, once again, we are edging closer to catastrophe—this time with North Korea. In fact, beyond the dangerous words and saber rattling between President Trump and North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, the Trump administration is pushing for more “usable” nuclear weapons as part of a hugely expensive plan to re-build the entire US nuclear arsenal. Just this week it was reported that President Trump told military commanders he wanted a tenfold increase in the size of the nuclear arsenal. In addition, the administration is threatening to tear up successful arms control agreements that have made us safer while taking other steps that will take our nuclear policy back decades. We need to work together to step back from the nuclear brink, reduce the risks these weapons pose, and build a more secure future—without the fear of global nuclear catastrophe.

Science in Action

Preventing Nuclear War: Congress Must Play a Role

The North Korea crisis is just one aspect of an even bigger problem: the Trump administration and nuclear hawks inside and outside of Congress are reportedly pulling together plans to build more “usable” nuclear weapons and spend more than $1 trillion to re-build the entire nuclear arsenal. Meanwhile, the administration is threatening to walk away from critical US-Russian nuclear arms control agreements that make the world a safer place. Write to your members of Congress and demand that they take real leadership on nuclear weapons issues.

TAKE ACTION

‘In the event of a nuclear attack’: U-Hawaii’s curious email to students and staff

As reported by Nick Anderson in the Washington Post.

Official statement from ICAN after receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Statement on Nobel Peace Prize 2017

It is a great honour to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 in recognition of our role in achieving the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This historic agreement, adopted on 7 July with the backing of 122 nations, offers a powerful, much-needed alternative to a world in which threats of mass destruction are allowed to prevail and, indeed, are escalating.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries. By harnessing the power of the people, we have worked to bring an end to the most destructive weapon ever created – the only weapon that poses an existential threat to all humanity.

This prize is a tribute to the tireless efforts of many millions of campaigners and concerned citizens worldwide who, ever since the dawn of the atomic age, have loudly protested nuclear weapons, insisting that they can serve no legitimate purpose and must be forever banished from the face of our earth.

It is a tribute also to the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the hibakusha – and victims of nuclear test explosions around the world, whose searing testimonies and unstinting advocacy were instrumental in securing this landmark agreement.

The treaty categorically outlaws the worst weapons of mass destruction and establishes a clear pathway to their total elimination. It is a response to the ever-deepening concern of the international community that any use of nuclear weapons would inflict catastrophic, widespread and long-lasting harm on people and our living planet.

We are proud to have played a major role its creation, including through advocacy and participation in diplomatic conferences, and we will work assiduously in coming years to ensure its full implementation. Any nation that seeks a more peaceful world, free from the nuclear menace, will sign and ratify this crucial accord without delay.

The belief of some governments that nuclear weapons are a legitimate and essential source of security is not only misguided, but also dangerous, for it incites proliferation and undermines disarmament. All nations should reject these weapons completely – before they are ever used again.

This is a time of great global tension, when fiery rhetoric could all too easily lead us, inexorably, to unspeakable horror. The spectre of nuclear conflict looms large once more. If ever there were a moment for nations to declare their unequivocal opposition to nuclear weapons, that moment is now.

We applaud those nations that have already signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and we urge all others to follow their lead. It offers a pathway forward at a time of alarming crisis. Disarmament is not a pipe dream, but an urgent humanitarian necessity.

We most humbly thank the Norwegian Nobel Committee. This award shines a needed light on the path the ban treaty provides towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Before it is too late, we must take that path.

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2017: ICAN!

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded to ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons! ICAN, also a laureate of the Nuclear-Free Futures Award, recently succeeded in the passage of a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations.

The Nobel Committee's announcement begins:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The organization is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. Some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea. Nuclear weapons pose a constant threat to humanity and all life on earth. Through binding international agreements, the international community has previously adopted prohibitions against land mines, cluster munitions and biological and chemical weapons. Nuclear weapons are even more destructive, but have not yet been made the object of a similar international legal prohibition.

Update on October 6, 2017 by admin

See the New York Times coverage, as well as the Washington Post's.