New to the field? Short

Beginner’s guide to nuclear issues

Is this your first time studying nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation? Then you’ve come to the right place! Use these resources to find answers to our key “Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation 101” questions!

Step 1

  • What are nuclear weapons?
  • What would happen if a nuclear weapon was dropped
  • What are the effects of nuclear weapons?

What are nuclear weapons?

What would happen if a nuclear weapon was dropped?

Look at Alex Wallerstein’s NUKEMAP simulation to help understand and visualize what would happen if a nuclear weapon was dropped on your city.

Science and Global Security has a project that is motivated to highlight the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war between US and Russia.

What are the effects of nuclear weapons?

Find the answers by watching this 8-minute video! What if We Nuke a City? – YouTube

Step 2

What happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki

We cannot talk about nuclear weapons without knowing what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Useful Sites:

Step 3

  • Who has nuclear weapons? What is the purpose of having nuclear weapons?
  • Why is the existence of nuclear weapons a critical issue?
  • What is nuclear nonproliferation?
  • What is nuclear disarmament?
  • Why does disarmament matter? Why does nonproliferation matter?

Use UNODA Disarmament Explainer Video Series to answer these questions: 

Step 4

Who has nuclear weapons?

Which countries have nuclear weapons? How many? Does your home country possess nuclear weapons? Find the answers in these videos and factsheets:

Nuclear weapons: Explained in numbers – BBC News

Who has what at a glance

Status of World Nuclear Forces

[Extra credit!]

Search #didyouknowcif on Instagram and check our Did You Know series for more introductory information