‘Able’ nuclear test, 1 July 1946
Eighty years ago today, the first post-World War II nuclear test took place over the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Image: Library of US Congress/ public domain
The ‘Able’ nuclear test was one of two tests conducted by the United States as part of ‘Operation Crossroads’. It took place on 1 July 1946 and was the first nuclear explosion to be carried out after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. It was the first of 21 bombs that were detonated at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, over a period of twelve years, totalling about 75 megatons of TNT. Between 1946 and 1962 altogether 106 nuclear tests were carried out in the Marshall Islands.
Read more…Introduction to volunteer-based human security
The International Year of Volunteers 2026 comes at a time when communities worldwide face rising pressures from climate shocks to displacement, inequality, and social fragmentation. Across the world, volunteers are often the first to notice emerging problems and the first to respond. During heatwaves, volunteers check on isolated older persons. In conflict-affected areas, volunteers raise awareness about landmines and unexploded ordnance, helping families avoid life-threatening dangers. These everyday actions reveal a powerful reality: volunteers are not only helpers. They are essential actors in building safer, more resilient, and more dignified societies.
Read more…How Finland learned to love the bomb
by Kati Juva
When Finland’s defence minister Antti Häkkänen announced on 5 March that Finland will lift its ban on nuclear weapons, it was a total surprise to all opposition parties and also to most MPs from the government parties, not to mention the civil society. The proposal had been prepared in total secrecy and went against previous promises.
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Every year on 30 June, the world marks the International Day of Parliamentarism, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018 to coincide with the founding of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1889. More than a commemorative occasion, the day invites reflection on the role of parliaments in serving people, strengthening democracy, and upholding the rule of law.
The theme for 2026, “Putting Human Rights Back on the Frontline,” underscores the urgent need to restore human dignity to the center of public life at a time marked by armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, and growing public distrust in institutions. In such circumstances, parliaments are called upon to reclaim their fundamental role as the voice of the people and as guardians of rights, justice, and accountability.
Read more…The medical conscience of the nuclear age: the legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s physicians
Introduction: Hiroshima Day 2026
Hiroshima Day, observed each year on 6 August, marks the moment the world first witnessed the catastrophic human consequences of nuclear weapons. The 81st anniversary in 2026 invites renewed commitment to prevention, justice, and global human security. As communities and campaigners prepare for this year’s observance, it is essential to recall the legacy of those who first confronted the medical reality of nuclear war. The physicians, nurses, and caregivers of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shaped the moral foundation of today’s humanitarian movement for nuclear abolition.
Read more…by Arun Mitra
The Indian government has become increasingly aligned with US policy and has effectively surrendered to pressure from President Trump. In a changing world, Russia and China are cooperating on many issues and expanding their influence in geopolitics. A growing number of developing countries in the Global South are strengthening their ties with these two nations.
Read more…Explosive weapons and the future of peace: why civilian harm anywhere threatens stability everywhere
When the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) released its 2025 global report in May 2026, it delivered a message the world can no longer ignore: explosive weapons in populated areas are reshaping the nature of conflict worldwide. From Latin America to Eastern Europe, from the Sahel to South Asia, and across the Arab region, urban bombardment has become a defining feature of modern warfare, with consequences that extend far beyond national borders.
Read more…The following remarks were delivered by Dr. Angelika Claussen at the SB64 side event, Peace and Climate Justice: Emissions, Finance and Equity, in Bonn, Germany on June 8, 2026.
Hello, my name is Angelika Claussen, I am a physician by training and the vice-president of the German section of the international Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. A big thank you to Karen, for putting this important panel together, to my esteemed fellow panellists and to you in the audience for joining us here today.
In this panel, I would like to speak from the perspective of a health professional about the deep interconnections between the climate crisis, nuclear weapons, militarisation, and public health.
As health professionals, our responsibility is not only to treat illness, but to prevent the conditions that cause mass suffering. Today, humanity faces two paramount human-made existential threats: climate change and nuclear weapons. These threats are often discussed separately, but they are deeply interconnected and must be addressed together.
Read more…The 2025 ICAN report on nuclear weapons spending, released on 9 June 2026, presents a stark picture of global priorities. In 2025, nine nuclear armed states spent 119 billion dollars on their nuclear arsenals, a nineteen percent increase from the previous year, equal to 3,768 dollars every second (ICAN 2026, Executive Summary). These expenditures are not temporary. Many nuclear systems are planned to remain in service until the late twenty first century, and some even into the twenty second century. The report documents systems expected to operate until 2085, 2090, and in some cases 2120 (ICAN 2026, Long Term Projections). These figures reflect deliberate, long term investment in weapons designed to destroy cities.
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In 1868, long before satellites or nuclear weapons, the world confronted a deceptively simple question: Should every weapon that can be built also be used?
The question arose after the Russian Empire developed an exploding rifle bullet that inflicted devastating injuries far beyond any military necessity. Russian military physicians warned that the wounds were so catastrophic that they served no legitimate strategic purpose. In a rare moment of moral clarity, Russia renounced the weapon it had invented and invited other powers to negotiate what became the St. Petersburg Declaration — the first international agreement to prohibit a weapon because of its inhumane effects.
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