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Stephen Schwartz

@atomicanalyst.bsky.social

Editor/Co-author, “Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940” • Nonresident Senior Fellow, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists • Nuclear weapons expert (history, policy, costs, accidents) and tracker of the nuclear “Football.”

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Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 7h ago

Today in Moscow in 1963, diplomats Dean Rusk (United States), Andrei Gromyko (Soviet Union), and Alec Douglas-Home (United Kingdom) signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the signatory states from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, and in outer space.

A black and white photograph of (left to right) Dean Rusk (United States), Andrei Gromyko (Soviet Union), and Alec Douglas-Home (United Kingdom) sitting at a long table while signing the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in Moscow. Behind Gromyko stands a smiling Nikita Khrushchev, with three medals pinned to the left breast of his jacket.A black and white photograph of (left to right) Senator J. William Fullbright (D-Arkansas), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Hubert Humphrey (D-South Dakota), United Nations Secretary General U Thant, and Khrushchev celebrating the signing (with others) with a champagne toast. Khrushchev has four medals pinned to his jacket, three on the left pocket and one on the right lapel.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 7h ago

Today in 1950, a B-29 ferrying an unarmed Mark-4 atomic bomb (without its plutonium capsule) to Guam for potential use in the Korean War crashed and burned attempting an emergency landing five minutes after takeoff from Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, CA, killing 12 crew/passengers and injuring 8.

A color photograph of two silver-colored B-29 bombers in flight over dry, hilly terrain, one very large (in the foreground) and one much smaller in the background.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 19h ago

The White House Military Office Coast Guard aide is on “Football” duty tonight for Trump’s short flight to his Rancho Palos Verdes golf club for a RNC fundraiser. The ~45-lb. satchel trails Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 23h ago

The White House Military Office Air Force aide is on “Football” duty for Trump’s trip to his Los Angeles golf club for a RNC fundraiser. The ~45 lb. satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

A low-resolution screenshot from a live video of Grift Force One on the ground at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with the Air Force aide (circled in red) carrying the Presidential Emergency Satchel in her right hand while walking from Marine One toward the stairs to board the aircraft.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · yesterday

“Today is August 4, 2026, in the city of Allendale, California ....” Listen below to Leonard Nimoy’s recording of Ray Bradbury’s powerful 1950 science fiction short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” set on this very day.

Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last mo.

Listen here to Nimoy’s 1975 recording of Ray Bradbury’s 1950 science fiction short story (and chapter in “The Martian Chronicles”) “There Will Come Soft Rains,” which hauntingly envisioned one potential future arising from unconstrained nuclear testing and arms races. archive.org/details/brad...

A screenshot from the linked Internet Archive page for the 1975 recording, "Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles — There Will Come Soft Rains • Usher II — Read By Leonard Nimoy" It shows the cover of the album, a somewhat abstract-looking painting of a vaguely futuristic-looking white house sitting amidst what looks like a pile of branches. Up in the blue sky, stars and two planets (one red, one green) are visible.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · yesterday

Louisiana Republican officials have proposed burying highly radioactive waste in underwater salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico three miles offshore (evading state laws banning such disposal on land) to participate in the Trump regime’s plan to rapidly deploy new nuclear reactors to power data centers.

Louisiana pitches plan to store radioactive nuclear waste underneath the Gulf

Louisiana wants federal support for a sweeping nuclear plan that includes new reactors, data-center power and research into storing spent fuel in offshore salt domes. The state is one of five finalist...

nola.com

Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 3d ago

Today in 2019, Trump—as advocated by his National Security Advisor John Bolton—unilaterally and formally withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the first and only treaty to verifiably eliminate an entire class of weaponry (2,692 nuclear-armed missiles in just three years).

A color graphic titled “Missile Deployments Eliminated by the INF Treaty,” showing how many intermediate-range nuclear weapons were retired and removed from the countries where they were deployed and verifiably destroyed under the INF Treaty. An additional 430 US missiles and 979 Soviet missiles in storage or otherwise not deployed were also destroyed.A color photograph of a middle-aged male inspector from the Soviet Union at an outdoor location leaning over and carefully examining the nose section of a partially-dismantled US ground-launched cruise missile, whose deployment was banned by the 1988 INF Treaty.A color photograph of US Foreign Service Officer Eileen Malloy in Kazakhstan in 1990 observing the destruction of missiles banned by the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Malloy is wearing a blue parka and standing alone in front of five Soviet SS-20 intermediate-range ballistic missiles laying horizontally on the ground. Numerous Soviet and US officials stand behind the missiles in the background. The nose cones (which would have held nuclear warheads) have been cut away from the rest of the missiles. The green-painted missile immediately behind Malloy is decorated with graffiti in Cyrillic and drawings of the US and Soviet flags, and includes dates which in context may indicate when the missiles on display were retired under the treaty: August 1, 1988-October 27, 1989.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 3d ago

Today in 1939, Albert Einstein dictated a letter to FDR (drafted by physicist Leo Szilard) alerting him to new developments in atomic energy: “A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.”

A copy of Albert Einstein’s two-page typewritten letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Full text available here: https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/beginnings/einstein.html
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 4d ago

“Our world will be a safer and healthier place when we can admit that every time we make an atomic bomb we corrupt the morals of a host of innocent neutrons below the age of consent.” — Conclusion of “The Corruption of Innocent Neutrons” by W.H. Auden, New York Times Magazine, August 1, 1965

The first page of "The Corruption of Innocent Neutrons," by W.H. Auden, published the August 1, 1965, edition of the New York Times Magazine.A black and white photographic portait of Wystan Hugh (W.H.) Auden during a visit in Austria on July 29, 1965. He face, especially his forehead and around his eyes, is deeply wrinkled and he has neatly combed graying hair. He is wearing a dark striped jacket, a striped shirt, and a dark tie.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 4d ago

OTD 80 yrs ago, President Harry Truman signed the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, transferring control over nuclear weapons from the US Army’s Manhattan Engineer District to the new Atomic Energy Commission, thus establishing civilian control of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy (as of January 1, 1947).

A black and white photograph of President Harry Truman signing the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, while seated at his desk in the Oval Office, surrounded by members of the Senate Special Committee on Atomic Energy (left to right): Tom Connally (D-Texas), Eugene D. Milliken (R-Colorado), Edwin C. Johnson (D-Colorado), Thomas C. Hart (R-Connecticut), Brien McMahon (D-Connecticut), Warren R. Austin (R-Vermont) , and Richard B. Russell (D-Georgia).An excerpt from Section 6 ("Military Applications of Atomic Energy") of the Atomic Energy Act: "The President from time to time may direct the Commission (1) to deliver such quantities of fissionable materials or weapons to the armed forces for such use as he deems necessary in the interest of national defense or (2) to authorize the armed forces to manufacture, produce, or acquire any equipment or device utilizing fissionable material or atomic energy as a military weapon."
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 5d ago

The White House Military Office Air Force aide is on “Football” duty for Trump’s trip to Camp David (near Thurmont, MD) for a Cabinet meeting. The ~45 lb. satchel trails Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 5d ago

OTD 35 yrs ago, Presidents George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the START I agreement, limiting the United States and the Soviet Union to 1,600 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and bombers and 6,000 “accountable” strategic warheads. It entered into force on December 5, 1994, expiring 15 years later.

A color photograph of Mikhail Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush sitting side by side at a wooden table signing separate bound copies of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.A color photograph of George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev smiling and shaking hands after signing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow. Hanging vertically behind them are the flags of the United States and the Soviet Union.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 5d ago

Today in 1990, the United States assembled its last completely new nuclear warhead—a 455-kiloton W88 for the Trident II D5 SLBM—at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. Since then, several thousand existing warheads and bombs have been significantly modernized at Pantex, enhancing their capabilities.

A photograph of a July 19, 1991, typewritten letter from the Department of Energy Albuquerque Operations Office responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from the author regarding “the last date on which the Pantex Plant assembled bombs/warheads using the final shipment of plutonium pits from the Rocky Flats Plant, which was received at Pantex on January 3, 1990.” The pertinent responsive paragraph (highlighted in green) reads, “… the final assembly date on which the Pantex Plant assembled bombs/warheads using the final shipment of plutonium pits from the Rocky Flats Plant was July 31, 1990 for the W-88 program.”A rare color photograph of the Mark-5 reentry vehicle, used to carry the W88 warhead on the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile, lying horizontally on a stand. The carbon fiber-wrapped reentry vehicle is dark black and conical (its nose is facing to the right). Hardware for mounting the RV to the "bus" or third stage of the missile is visible at the bottom of the reentry vehicle.A color photograph of a Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile erupting from the surface of the ocean (creating a large white plume) and igniting its first stage rocket motor at the start of a flight or shakedown test.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

30 years ago today, China conducted its 45th and final nuclear weapon test, an underground explosion measuring between 1 to 5 kilotons at the Lop Nor Nuclear Test Base. This was also the last nuclear test by any permanent member of the UN Security Council. Two months later, China signed the CTBT.

Copy of an article in the July 30, 1996, edition of the New York Times headlined "China Sets Off Nuclear Test, Then Announces Moratorium."A color map showing the location of the Lop Nor nuclear test site in Xinjiang Province in northwestern China, south of Mongolia. An inset map of the Earth shows the region's location relative to Russia, Indonesia, Australia, and the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

Right now in 1945 (12:15 AM July 30, local time), as the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis steamed from Guam to Leyte (in the Philippines), it was sunk by two Japanese torpedoes. Four days before, it had delivered the “Little Boy” atomic bomb casing and its highly enriched uranium projectile to Tinian.

A black and white photograph of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) off Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California (23 miles northeast of San Francisco), on July 10, 1945, following its final overhaul and repair of battle damage.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

Today in 1957, a C-124A Globemaster II ferrying 3 unarmed Mark-5 atomic bombs and 1 plutonium capsule from Dover AFB, Delaware, to a base in Europe, lost power in both its port-side engines off Cape May, New Jersey, and began losing altitude. To make a safe emergency landing near Atlantic City …

A color aerial photograph of a C-124A Globemaster II US Air Force military transport aircraft in flight, as seen from its right side. In profile, the aircraft resembles a silver fish with a large mouth.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

Today in 1950—nearly five years after the United States used a single atomic bomb to obliterate Hiroshima, Japan—Collier’s magazine featured renowned painter and illustrator Chesley Bonestell’s (1888-1986) vivid visions of an atomic attack on New York City on its cover and inside pages.

The cover of the August 5, 1950, issue of Collier’s magazine, featuring a painting by Chesley Bonestell of a large orange, red, yellow, and white nuclear fireball exploding over midtown Manhattan (as seen from the air south of Manhattan), and the beginnings of a mushroom cloud sucking smoke and debris up from the streets, with the cover line, “Hiroshima, U.S.A. — Can Anything Be Done About It?”A large painting from inside Collier's magazine of two large nuclear explosions over Manhattan and Queens as seen from the air southwest of Manhattan. A large plume of smoke from a firestorm in northern Manhattan is also visible.A two-page-spread painting of the aftermath of a nuclear attack on New York City as viewed from the air southeast of Manhattan. Multiple areas of the city are on fire and enormous plumes of black smoke billow into the air. The caption reads, “A cloud of black grime masked the lower city. … Where 100,000 people had lived—in an area roughly fifteen blocks long and twenty blocks across—there was now an ugly brown-red sear. … Beyond the rim of the sea, thousands of fires were lighted.”
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

White House Military Office Army aide Lt. Col. Charlie Rockwood was on “Football” duty for Trump’s trip to GM’s Milford Proving Ground, MI. The ~45 lb. satchel trails Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

OTD 70 yrs ago, a B-47 making a touch-and-go landing at RAF Lakenheath, 20 miles northeast of Cambridge, England, veered off the runway, smashed into a storage igloo holding three unarmed Mark-6 atomic bombs, and exploded. “… a miracle that one Mark Six with exposed detonators sheared didn’t go.”

Copy of a formerly TOP SECRET July 27, 1956, telegram from Major General James Walsh, commander of Strategic Air Command's 7th Air Division at the US Air Base in South Ruislip in England to General Curtis LeMay, the commander in chief of Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska: "PERSONAL FOR CINC LEMAY FROM WALSH. MORE TO MY PHONE CALL. HAVE JUST COME FROM THE WRECKAGE OF B-47 WHICH PLOUGHED INTO AN IGLOO IN LAKENHEATH ADS. THE B-47 TORE APART THE IGLOO AND KNOCKED ABOUT 3 MARK SIXES. A/C THEN EXPLODED SHOWERING BURNING FUEL OVERALL. CREW PERISHED. MOST OF THE A/C WRECKAGE PIVOTED ON IGLOO AND CAME TO REST WITH A/C NOSE JUST BEYOND IGLOO BANK WHICH KEPT MAIN FUEL FIRE OUTSIDE SMASHED IGLOO. PRELIMINARY EXAM BY BOMB DISPOSAL OFFICER SAYS A MIRACLE THAT ONE MARK SIX WITH EXPOSED DETONATORS SHEARED DIDN'T GO. FIRE FIGHTERS EXTINGUISHED FIRE AROUND MARK SIXES FAST. PLAN INVESTIGATION TO WARRANT DECORATING FIREMEN."A color photograph of a B-47 bomber taking off using multiple Jet-Assisted Take Off rockets (JATO) attached to the aft fuselage. Large plumes of smoky exhaust pour from the six jet engines and the rockets.
Stephen Schwartz@atomicanalyst.bsky.social · last wk.

A plainclothes Navy aide carried the “Football” this afternoon when Trump returned to the White House after playing golf at his Virginia course. The ~45-lb. satchel trails Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our 1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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