Answers + Evidence

The abolition of nuclear weapons is an idea whose time has come, and a future we must achieve. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still a lot of questions.

Fortunately, we’ve got answers. Check out our Q&A, below — and learn why abolition is getting such strong, nonpartisan support that even skeptics have to give it a fair hearing. Want to take the answers with you? Download our formatted factsheet.

If you’ve got a question that we haven’t answered, be sure to let us know by clicking the box to the right. We’ll do our best to respond — and we might even add your question to the list of Answers + Evidence.

about nuclear weapons?

Nuclear weapons are uniquely destructive and categorically indiscriminate. Just one Hiroshima-sized nuclear bomb (15kt), if used in a terrorist attack on a major city, would:

  • kill 60,000+ people in the immediate blast;
  • poison 320 square miles, rendering it unlivable for a generation;
  • require immediate medical attention for 150,000 people suffering from burns and radiation poisoning, causing the collapse of healthcare infrastructure;
  • necessitate the evacuation of 6 million people;
  • cause $1 trillion dollars in immediate and direct damages.

In addition, the extended economic fallout would cripple the global economy, shutting down supply chains, investment, and charitable works. This would trigger a world-wide economic depression, with disproportionate suffering and death among populations already existing at subsistence levels.