Biden should do more to prevent the accidental launch of nuclear weapons. Here’s how.
Ernest J. Moniz, Sam Nunn
Nuclear Use Authority
There is no more consequential decision for a president than ordering a nuclear strike. Once launched, a nuclear-armed missile cannot be recalled or aborted. Today, the strategic environment and threats that could lead to the use of a nuclear weapon have changed from the Cold War, yet much of U.S. policy with respect to nuclear use authority remains grounded in that past era, increasing the risk of an accident or a mistake.
Statement from Ernest J. Moniz and Sam Nunn on Nuclear Use Authority
The President and Nuclear Weapons: Authorities, Limits, and Process
More resources
U.S. Nuclear Policies for a Safer World
Assessing and Managing the Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear-Weapon Systems
NTI Seminar: A Stable Nuclear Future? Autonomous Systems, Artificial Intelligence and Strategic Stability with UPenn’s Michael C. Horowitz
Projects
Past Project Safer World 2020
Engaging U.S. voters about the urgency to reduce nuclear and other WMD threats
More News and Analysis on Nuclear Weapons Programs, Policy, and Deterrence
NTI Resources on the War in Ukraine
As the war in Ukraine continues, destroying cities and causing the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe in a generation, NTI’s policy experts are fanning out across the news media to discuss the implications of Putin’s actions
Statement by the EASLG: Advancing Global Nuclear “Fail-Safe”
EASLG leaders Des Browne, Wolfgang Ischinger, Igor Ivanov, Ernest J. Moniz, and Sam Nunn, along with 34 dignitaries from 12 countries, call for all nuclear-weapons states to conduct internal reviews of their nuclear command-and-control and weapons systems.
Eric Brewer on “South Korea’s Nuclear Flirtations”
Eric Brewer, deputy vice president for NTI’s Nuclear Materials Security Program, co-authored a piece for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace titled “South Korea’s Nuclear Flirtations Highlight the Growing Risks of Allied Proliferation.”
The Failsafe Review
Modern technologies like cyber are introducing new risks to nuclear systems and underscore the need and urgency of conducting a new failsafe review.
Eric Brewer on the War in Ukraine and Nonproliferation
Deputy Vice President for NTI’s Nuclear Materials Security Program Eric Brewer writes that “although Russia’s war [in Ukraine] has created nuclear risks, the risk that it will unleash a wave of nuclear proliferation is lower than many believe.”
See All Analysis on Nuclear Weapons Programs, Policy, and Deterrence