DOOMSDAY CLOCK ADVANCES TWO MINUTES

[barbara100 at jps.net]

FCNL INFO LINE  February 27, 2002 
(To learn more about the FCNL INFO LINE, please see the end of this  message.)
 
DOOMSDAY CLOCK ADVANCES TWO MINUTES 

Today, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists  advanced the minute hand of the Doomsday clock from nine minutes to midnight  to seven minutes to midnight. In their announcement, the Board cited "too  little progress on global nuclear disarmament; growing concerns about the  security of nuclear weapons materials worldwide; the continuing U.S.  preference for unilateral action rather than cooperative international  diplomacy; U.S. abandonment of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and  U.S. efforts to thwart the enactment of international agreements designed to  constrain proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; the  crisis between India and Pakistan; terrorist efforts to acquire and use  nuclear and biological weapons; and the growing inequality between rich and  poor around the world that increases the potential for violence and war." 

Among the "troubling trends" noted by the Board is the failure of the Bush  administration to take steps "to significantly alter nuclear targeting  doctrine or reduce the day-to-day alert status of U.S. nuclear forces."  They asked, "If Russia is no longer an adversary, what is the rationale for  retaining the ability to incinerate more than 2,000 Russian targets in as  little as 30 minutes (or at all)?"
 
The Board also identified as problematic the efforts of U.S. weapons  laboratories, with the support of some in Congress, to develop new nuclear  weapons capable of destroying hardened and deeply buried targets, such as  underground bunkers. The U.S. efforts to resume testing for such weapons  will encourage other countries to resume testing of nuclear weapons. 
The Board also noted some "welcome developments" and noted that, if it were  not them, "the hands of the clock might have moved closer still." However  they note that much remains to be done. 

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by a group of  World War II-era Manhattan Project scientists who sought to warn the world  of nuclear dangers. In 1947, the Doomsday Clock made its debut, with a  setting of seven minutes to midnight, the same as it is today. Over the  past 55 years, the minute hand of the clock has moved to as close as two  minutes to midnight (1953, when the United States and the Soviet Union  tested thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another) to as far as  seventeen minutes to midnight (1991 when the United States and the Soviet  Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START, and announced  further unilateral cuts in tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.) Today  marks the third time since the end of the Cold War in 1991 that the minute  hand has been moved forward. 

The full statement of the Board may be found at  . 

Additional information may be found on FCNL's web site at  under the heading Control/Disarmament>. 


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