On July 16, 1945, the first nuclear bomb exploded in the desert sands of New Mexico under the watchful gaze of Manhattan Project scientists. Known as the Trinity test, the blast marked the beginning of the nuclear age—a moment that redefined statecraft and warfare.
Eighty years later, amid increasing concerns over nuclear threats, the University of Chicago on July 14-16 will host a landmark gathering of more than 15 Nobel laureates, as well as the world’s foremost experts on nuclear weapons to discuss and debate at a critical moment in global security. Their work will culminate in a set of concrete recommendations for preventing nuclear war, aimed at leaders and policymakers worldwide.
“Looking at the headlines, it’s a uniquely dangerous moment,” said UChicago Prof. Daniel Holz, chair of the Science and Security Board of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and one of the event’s organizers. “With this increased risk, there’s a sense that the threat and horror of nuclear war has faded from public consciousness—the focus on avoiding nuclear war at all costs has been lost. Hopefully our event can help remind people just how vital this is for the future of humanity.”
The three-day event, titled the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War, is being organized by the Nobel Foundation, the Bulletin, the Outrider Foundation and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. Culminating on the 80th anniversary of the Trinity test, it is the first Nobel Assembly focused on nuclear threats.
During the first two and a half days of the event, the laureates and other attendees will hold closed-door panel discussions and other sessions on topics including the effects of nuclear war on the climate, AI and nuclear risks, and legal frameworks for nonproliferation. They will also hear presentations from experts such as Siegfried Hecker, former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory; and Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.
These sessions will inform the participants’ recommendations for preventing nuclear war. On July 16, the Assembly will hold a news conference to formally present their findings as part of a larger declaration to the world. A webcast of the news conference will be available on the Assembly website.
The Assembly will close with a free public event featuring the Grammy-Award-winning Kronos Quartet and singer Allison Russell at the Logan Center for the Arts that will combine storytelling and nuclear history. Register here to secure at ticket.
UChicago was the site of the historic first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction—achieved on Dec. 2, 1942 by Enrico Fermi and scientists from around the world—which proved a crucial step toward proving the feasibility of a nuclear weapon. A group of scientists from the Manhattan Project who were deeply concerned about the risks to civilization from nuclear weapons later formed the Bulletin. Based at UChicago, the organization now sets the Doomsday Clock each year as a metaphor for how close humanity is to destruction.
Underlining the possible magnitude of modern nuclear conflict, Holz noted that such bombs today are as much as 80 times stronger than the one dropped in 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II.
Just as in his work with the Bulletin, Holz said the Nobel Laureate Assembly comes from a place of deep expertise—and that the attendees are “going to be tireless” in getting their recommendations into the hands of global decision-makers.
“This can’t be a pie-in-the-sky thing—we’re looking at the current security context, actual practical steps that can be taken to reduce the risks of nuclear war,” he said. “There’s a general tendency today for nations to be separating, failing to come together to address the big challenges of the day. This is really a time when everyone needs to work together. If we all devolve into ‘us versus them,’ the whole planet loses.”