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nuclear weapons

Incidents involving nuclear weapons policy, including threats of nuclear use, expansion of nuclear arsenals, withdrawal from arms control treaties, and violations of non-proliferation obligations.

Related incidents

3 incidents

DOGE Fires 350 Nuclear Weapons Workers at NNSA, Including Pantex Warhead Assemblers

DOGE fired 350 NNSA nuclear weapons workers, including warhead assemblers at Pantex and radioactive waste managers at Savannah River, as part of a 2,000-person Department of Energy purge. Most firings …

  • On February 13, 2025, approximately 350 NNSA employees were abruptly terminated as part of a DOGE purge across the Department of Energy …
  • The Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas — where nuclear warheads are assembled and disassembled — absorbed about 30% of the cuts. Fired …

New START Treaty Expires: First Time Since 1970s With No Nuclear Arms Control

The expiration of the last US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty ends over five decades of binding limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. No replacement is under negotiation. The loss of …

  • New START expired on February 5, 2026, ending the last legally binding limits on US and Russian nuclear arsenals — 1,550 deployed strategic …
  • This marks the first time since the early 1970s that there are no binding nuclear arms control agreements between the two nations that …

Trump Orders Pentagon to Resume Nuclear Weapons Testing, Breaking 33-Year Moratorium

Trump directed the Pentagon to match other nations' nuclear testing programs, breaking a moratorium that has held since 1992 and threatening to collapse the global norm against nuclear testing that …

  • On October 30, 2025, Trump publicly directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, stating the US should match 'other countries' …
  • The US has not conducted a live nuclear weapons test since 1992, when President George H.W. Bush imposed a unilateral testing moratorium. No …