MTA Atomic Voices Series

Redressing Nuclear Harm: Transitional Justice in the Nuclear Age

Nuclear deterrence and disarmament discussions often center on potential future use and threats of use of nuclear weapons. Attention is growing, however, on the harm that nuclear weapons have already done, mostly focused on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and on nuclear testing impacts. This seminar offers a nuclear justice lens derived from concepts of transitional justice (TJ).

The global nuclear order that comprises nuclear deterrence, nonproliferation, and disarmament is often viewed as discriminatory and increasingly castigated as unjust. Few states got to develop and deploy nuclear weapons in the name of their own security and that of their allies. Most are prohibited from doing so by the international nonproliferation regime. All stand to lose if a nuclear exchange takes place. Russia’s war against Ukraine underscored the inequities and injustices in the global nuclear order built on hierarchical spheres of (in)security. How to define injustice in nuclear affairs? How sustainable is an unjust global nuclear order? At what cost can it be maintained in its present form, and how can it be long tolerated by the future generations? The panel brings together scholars to critically reflect on past, ongoing, and future nuclear injustices – in the context of the war in Ukraine and beyond – to assess the main tensions and pave the way for a research agenda beyond the usual boundaries of the nuclear policy field and community.

For decades, the world’s nuclear powers conducted nuclear test explosions in places they deemed suitable. These areas were remote and allegedly “uninhabited.” In practice, this meant that the indigenous people living near nuclear test sites were not considered important enough to be consulted by decision-makers. These communities suffered disproportionately the consequences of 528 atmospheric nuclear tests.

Over the past several decades, the nuclear field has developed a classical canon of seemingly sacred texts. These works are likely to be assigned in university-level courses on nuclear policy across the United States and the globe. Over the past few years, however, the nuclear field – just as affected by hierarchies and injustices as other social milieus – has been shaken by calls to critically rethink the global nuclear predicament and engage with more diverse voices and perspectives. This must involve interrogating the transmitter of nuclear knowledge: the academic syllabus. It is imperative to revisit how nuclear courses are taught, what questions are raised, and what texts are assigned. Accordingly, MTA brings together a group of exceptional scholars and long-time teachers of nuclear history and politics to discuss challenges, discoveries, frustrations, and the importance of teaching the bomb in the 21^st century.

Nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors are designed, built, deployed, and managed—with intention and purpose—by human beings embedded in and shaped by institutional, social, and political contexts. These contexts affect how people interpret and respond to the benefits and dangers of nuclear technologies. But whose interpretations and modes of reasoning count as authoritative, competent, and trustworthy—and whose are discounted or dismissed?

This event is hosted by the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) as part of its Atomic Voices series, a discussion forum for perspectives on diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the nuclear field.

The field of national and international security, and nuclear policy in particular, has traditionally been predominantly white and predominantly male in composition. It remains so, despite the declared commitment of many organizations to attract women and minorities and earnest policies and practices to do so. Only about one-third of professionals in the WMD policy and research field are women. The gap is far wider for women of color. What are the most challenging obstacles to diversifying the nuclear field?

This event is hosted by the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) as part of its Atomic Voices series, a discussion forum for perspectives on diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the nuclear field.

Nuclear politics across the African continent are complex and diverse. Yet, Western-centric scholarship and policymaking tend to overlook the multitude of perspectives on nuclear energy and weapons within Africa. Dominant nuclear discourses obscure the narratives of Africa's regions, countries, and peoples. Closer examination reveals a vast and intricate tapestry of nuclear spaces and identities imprinted on the continent’s colonial and post-colonial experience. In the atomic age, these experiences have included: uranium mining, nuclear explosive testing, the Bandung Conference, development and rollback of South Africa's nuclear weapons program, participation in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament initiatives, and pursuit of civilian nuclear energy. This panel brings together a diverse group of scholars to examine African relationships with nuclear arms and nuclear energy through the lenses of security, development, climate change and the environment, and global justice and equality.

On Dec. 10, the Project on Managing the Atom hosted a panel discussion on the impact of uranium mining on indigenous communities as part of its ongoing series on Diversity and Inclusion in the Nuclear Field. A full recording of the event is viewable at the link below.

The recent killings of unarmed Black Americans and the ensuing protests have yet again highlighted the racial injustices and structural inequalities that remain a major part of life in the United States. Institutions across the U.S. nuclear community—including the Project on Managing the Atom—have issued statements condemning systemic racism and recognizing the need to counter racial injustices. To further these discussions, this panel will focus on often-overlooked issues of racial inequalities in the nuclear field. Contributors to the panel will discuss race in the context of global nuclear governance, the nuclear disarmament movement, and nuclear weapons testing.

This event is sponsored by the Project on Managing the Atom.