- Nuclear threat and security
Nuclear Security Group (NSG)
Bomb B61-13, USA
- The U.S. has calculated the number of casualties in the event of a nuclear strike on Moscow and St. Petersburg - Newsweek.
- The new bomb B61-13 which is being developed by the Pentagon, could kill 311,480 people and injure 868,860 in a strike on Moscow.
- Everyone within a 3 km radius would die in a month, and 15% of the survivors would get cancer.
- If the B61-13 bomb is dropped on St. Petersburg, its effect could be even more devastating: about 360,150 people would die and 685,930 would be injured.
- For the first time in the history of nuclear missile weapons, Russia has surpassed its competitors in this field - Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council.
2019 cyberattack on Kudankulam power plant
The 2019 cyberattack on Kudankulam Power Plant revealed new vulnerabilities—phishing, social engineering, and malware can disrupt control systems that manage nuclear operations.
Three individuals were arrested in Bihar for the possession of a restricted nuclear material, californium, on 10 August.
highlights that communication between departments is crucial.
Strict data basing and tracking of nuclear material is also required to ensure it cannot be illegally moved.
In 2023, there were 168 illegal incidents involving such materials globally.
Institutions like the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which was established in 2008, are critical in investigating cases related to terrorism and nuclear threats.
India’s online nuclear licensing process, e-Licensing of Radiation Applications (eLORA), stipulates a comprehensive review of the security and emergency plans at radiation facilities
The 2008 Mumbai attacks should be a reminder of how vital coastal security is for India. Terrorists are perfectly capable of using small boats or drones to target coastal installations
India has a well-established nuclear security regime, which includes a comprehensive legal architecture centred around the Atomic Energy Act 1962
recommendations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It includes physical protection (monitoring and securing nuclear materials), detection (identifying materials out of regulatory purview), and emergency response (regaining control in case a nuclear material poses a threat to the public).
India’s nuclear security regime, based on a risk-informed approach Print
March 2025
IAEA backing India's entry into NSG
IAEA Chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has backed India's entry into the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group).
June 2025
The Third Nuclear Age
The world has entered a 3rd nuclear age that goes against the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, which seeks to control proliferation through negotiations and treaty obligations. 1
No major power has criticised Israel's action against Iran.
After the first nuclear age of the cold war, bipolar logic of mutually assured destruction between US and USSR. This was consumed by super power rivalry. The other 3 nuclear powers played the supporting parts to US.
Then post cold war, second nuclear age, assumed nukes could be pushed into background until somebody figured out how to achieve total nuclear disarmament.
Now, we have entered the third nuclear age, where nuclear weapons and deterrence are back in focus.
It would be mistake to think that the third age reprises the first, this one is messier and most unpredictable. This age normalised nuclear possession. There is a renewed salience of nukes is super imposed on a global order in flux.
After negotiating the NPT, the USSR and US engaged in bilateral arms control treaties that required reductions in stockpile from a peak of almost of 70,000 warheads between them.
NEW START, which limits deployed warheads to 1,550 each expires in February 2026. There is no negotiations for a successor treaty or extension.
Russia and US are modernising their arsenals. America's 30 year old $1.5 - 2 trillion upgrade started under President Barack Obama, soon after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 200 in part of his efforts to create a world free from nuclear weapons.
China is believed to have the fastest growing arsenal with currently 600 warheads. China views its aggressive nuclear build up as providing strategic counter balance to shape global balance of power.
The nuclear modernisation programmes began during the second nuclear age. A negotiated test ban and talk of fissile ban treaty were attempts to freeze the status quo and prevent new nuclear entrants.
Global Zero - a concept being valiantly promoted by the signatories of Nuclear Ban Treaty that was negotiated in 2017, without a single nuclear weapons state supporting it. 1
NPT's Article 6 states, "Nuclear possessors to pursue negotiations in good faith to achieve nuclear disarmament."
NATO's European allies to look to France and Britain to deter a resurgent Russia. Britain is reconsidering an airborne deterrent 25 years after scrapping it and has budgeted 15 billion euros for warhead development and modernisation in its 2025 strategic defences review. France is modernising and reopening old bases and considering basing nuclear assets with its neighbours at their request.
Last year, Russia transferred tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. 1
