Policy Solutions: Reports & Issue Papers

All Reports & Issue Papers Tagged nuclear weapons

From Mutual Assured Destruction to Mutual Assured Stability
Exploring a New Comprehensive Framework for U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arms Reductions

Report

NRDC conducted two workshops, in Washington, D.C. in 2011 and in Moscow in 2012, with members of The Institute for USA and Canadian Studies (ISKRAN), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, to examine questions surrounding the future of U.S.-Russian arms control. Our goals were to describe a set of further arms control options and to facilitate a greater understanding of Russia's perspectives on its national security and how nuclear weapons fit into Russian security planning.

U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe
A review of post-Cold War policy, force levels, and war planning.

Issue Paper

A review of post-Cold War policy, force levels, and war planning.

Nuclear Insecurity
A Critique of the Bush Administration's Nuclear Weapons Policies

Report

This September 2004 report assesses the Bush administration's nuclear weapons policies and concludes that they have made the United States more vulnerable, not more secure. It offers recommendations for a more responsible nuclear policy, including honoring the U.S. commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, scrapping plans for nuclear bunker busters, and ending the deployment of the unproven missile defense system.

Weaponeers of Waste
A Critical Look at the Bush Administration Energy Department's Nuclear Weapons Complex and the First Decade of Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship

Report

This April 2004 report finds that the U.S. nuclear "stockpile stewardship" program is spending billions on nuclear weapons research and production projects that are over budget and years behind in meeting their goals. Despite the end of the Cold War, the Bush administration spent 12 times more on nuclear weapons research and production than on nonproliferation efforts to retrieve, secure and dispose of nuclear weapons materials.

Iran Develops Nuclear Technologies in Secret for 18 Years
A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency describes technological advances and a policy of concealment.

Report

On November 10, 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a 30-page confidential report on Iran's nuclear activities. The report revealed that for the past 18 years Iran has secretly developed technologies for producing weapon-usable highly enriched uranium and plutonium. Read the report on NRDC's website.

The ABC News Nuclear Smuggling Experiment
The Sequel

Fact Sheet

This briefing paper provides information about NRDC's role in an ABC News investigative report on U.S. Customs' inability to detect smuggled nuclear weapons material. NRDC loaned ABC News the depleted uranium it used in its report. The briefing paper covers the properties of uranium, radioactive shielding, and how closely ABC's "experiment" reflects the potential for terrorists to smuggle weapon-grade uranium into the country.

The U.S. Nuclear War Plan: A Time for Change

Report

A June 2001 report assesses the U.S. nuclear war planning process and the assumptions and logic of the Single Integrated Operational Plan, a Cold War relic that continues to guide U.S. nuclear war plans. Using customized computer software and a vast aggregation of declassified and open-source data to closely approximate the tools that SIOP planners use, NRDC has simulated a U.S. attacks against Russian nuclear forces Russian cities.

Taking Stock: Worldwide Nuclear Deployments 1998

Report

A report providing, for the first time, authoritative estimates of the sizes and locations of the nuclear arsenals of the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China. The report contains detailed descriptions, including maps and tables, of today's arsenals, and describes the events that have led to the consolidation of weapons storage sites. The authors also project likely trends for the future.

End Run: The U.S. Government’s Plan for Designing Nuclear Weapons and Simulating Nuclear Explosions under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Report

A report on the U.S. Government's plan for designing nuclear weapons and simulating nuclear explosions under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.