Dr. Matt Caplan is hosting a seminar series, sponsored by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. The series, Twelve Thousand Bombs: A Nuclear Weapons Seminar Series, takes a look at the realities of nuclear weapons in the present day.
“Nuclear weapons did not disappear with the end of the Cold War,” according to Caplan. “Presently, there are over 12,000 nuclear bombs on earth, owned by nine nations, kept on the tips of missiles in submarines and silos on hair-trigger alert. For the first time this century, nuclear weapons are in the spotlight. Nuclear tensions between the U.S. and Russia have been steadily escalating following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while China silently arms itself to reach parity as a third nuclear superpower. Iran is likely to obtain nuclear weapons in the next few years, while North Korean missiles may soon be capable of reaching the continental U.S. Against this backdrop, the U.S. is currently undertaking a $1.5 trillion modernization campaign of its nuclear arsenal, but is this actually necessary for global security, or is misguided U.S. military spending driving a new arms race that endangers us all? This seminar series will explore the real dangers and legacy of harm from nuclear weapons so that the ISU community can be informed citizens in a nuclear age.”
The series features speakers who represent the diverse and interdisciplinary backgrounds needed to understand the modern landscape of nuclear weapons issues. Confirmed speakers include an artist and filmmaker, an expert on arsenals and wargaming, a nuclear physicist, and the president of the Downwinders Consortium representing the Americans and Indigenous people harmed by fallout from U.S. nuclear testing.
The scheduled events are:
- Smriti Keshari—Artist and filmmaker (Tuesday, February 6, from 5-7 p.m., Normal Theater)
Filmmaker Smriti Keshari will be at the Normal Theater for a screening of her film The Bomb, which is open to the general public. The Bomb is an experimental art film about the current nuclear world order, with an original score by electronic band The Acid. It was created alongside author Eric Schlosser, writer of Command and Control (2014), and premiered in 2016 at the Tribeca Film Festival and received high praise at the Berlin Film Festival the next year. Keshari will be present for a Q&A after the screening, following which there will be a reception on-site.
- Natalie Montoya—MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy (Tuesday, February 27, 5-6 p.m., ISU Center for Visual Arts Room 151)
What would happen in a nuclear war? Do I live near a nuclear target? What would a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia actually entail? Natalie Montoya’s 2021 thesis is one of the most up-to-date open analyses of U.S. and Russian arsenals and targeting strategies. Her talk, “Designing Doomsday: The Considerations and Calculations Underpinning Nuclear War Simulations,” will explore her simulations of the catastrophic damage of a nuclear war and the arms control measures needed to mitigate these risks moving forward.
- Angela Di Fulvio—Professor of Nuclear, Plasma, & Radiological Engineering, UIUC (Tuesday, March 19, 4-5 p.m., ISU Moulton Hall 210)
Recent events, including the U.S. withdrawal from arms control treaties and the pursuit of new nuclear weapons capabilities in the nine nuclear weapons states, suggest we may be facing a revived nuclear arms race with its dangerous consequences. Professor Di Fulvio give an overview of the resurgent role of nuclear weapons in national security strategies, the threat that they pose to the public, and potential risk mitigation approaches.
- Tina Cordova—President of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (date, time and location TBA)
The Trinity test, the first nuclear weapons test on July 16, 1945, was not without victims. For decades, the innocent “downwinders” who lived in the areas of New Mexico affected by fallout from this and other nuclear weapons tests like it has been unrecognized and uncompensated victims of radiation exposure, inflicting generations of harm on thousands of U.S. citizens. Tina Cordova, the president of the Downwinders Consortium, will speak about the history of weapons testing on U.S. soil and their efforts to get recognition and compensation from the U.S. federal government.
- Shelly Lesher—Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (Wednesday, April 17, 4-5 p.m., ISU Moulton Hall 210)
Professor Shelly Lesher is an experimental nuclear physicist and leading public scholar in the areas of nuclear weapons and arms control. Lesher works to educate the public on nuclear weapons issues, hosting the My Nuclear Life podcast and creating the course Navigating Global Nuclear Issues—the first of its kind in the nation—at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Most recently, she taught this class as a 2019-2020 Presidential Fellow at Yale University, and she will speak to us about how the public can be informed on nuclear weapons issues and influence policy.
