Atoms for peace

On Sunday night, British director Christopher Nolan won the prize he had been waiting for all his career: the Academy AwardHollywood's most prestigious honour, awarded annually since 1929 by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Golden Globes is often seen to predict potential Academy Award winners. for Best Picture. His blockbuster film Oppenheimer scooped seven awards in all at the Oscars ceremony, including also Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Oppenheimer is an epic biopic that explores the life of J Robert Oppenheimer: the American physicist who led the development of the atom bomb.

On release, critics were won over by its technical prowessSkill or talent in a particular area, such as music. and the importance of its story.¹

Oppenheimer's actions changed the world forever. In August 1945, the US government dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered. World War Two ended - at the cost of tens of thousands of peoples' lives.²

Afterwards, countries rushed to build their own atomic bombs. The Soviet UnionOfficially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991. and the United States entered an arms race, each attempting to have bigger and better arsenalsCollections of weapons. .

As a result the world is always at risk of nuclear war. Some believe the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis have pushed us closer than ever.

A single nuclear weapon can destroy a city. There are now around 12,512 nuclear warheads in the world - enough to destroy all life on Earth 55 times over. Some wonder whether the world would be a better place if they were never invented.

Others think nuclear weaponsA bomb or other weapon that uses nuclear energy to cause a big explosion. have prevented another world war. The last 80 years have been relatively peaceful.³ The Cold WarA period of diplomatic conflict between blocs led by the USA and the USSR that lasted from 1947 until 1991, when the USSR collapsed. was bad enough. A hot war would have been terrible.

In 1953, US president Dwight D Eisenhower called for "lasting peace for all nations" by sharing nuclear technology. Nuclear research has led to innovations in renewable energy and healthcare. 

This approach also led other countries to develop their own weapons.⁴ This increases the number of governments who can destroy the world. It also increases the chance of a deadly accident.

Do nuclear bombs make us safer?

Yes: Once was enough. "Since 1945," writes historian Yuval Noah Harari, "we have not seen a single case of war between great powers." The threat of nuclear bombs has effectively prevented many conflicts.

No: We were doomed the moment the cat came out of the bag. Nuclear weapons mean a single person can destroy the world. They may stop some wars. But they will be apocalyptic if a war cannot be stopped.

Or... We will hopefully never have to find out. Meanwhile they hang over our lives. As novelist Arundhati Roy writes: "Nuclear weapons pervadeTo spread through all parts of something. our thinking. Control our behaviour. Inform our dreams."