“On the brink”—really? Revisiting nuclear close calls since 1945

Abstract

Since Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have never been used in anger. Many state the world has stood multiple times “on the brink” of nuclear catastrophe due to errors, false alarms, or deliberate actions and that avoidance of such catastrophe was due to luck. This is not the case. An examination of 37 known alleged nuclear crises and 12 technical incidents suggests that, with rare exceptions, humans in charge of nuclear weapons have been responsible, prudent, and careful; incidents have ranged from “not-so-close” to “very distant.” – AI-generated abstract.