Letters to the Editor: As nuclear conflict risks remain high, the U.S. is pursuing a dangerous expansion

To the editor: As Mari Yamaguchi pointed out in this article, the risks of nuclear conflict remain high, with more than 12,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled globally, some many times more powerful than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (“On Nagasaki anniversary, mayor warns that nuclear ‘deterrence’ only increases risk,” Aug. 9). As the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing survivors, known as hibakusha, age, preserving their memories has taken on new urgency. We pray that there will always be someone to tell their story.

While allegedly attempting to prevent other countries from developing nuclear weapons, the United States is currently carrying out the most expensive expansion of our nuclear weapons complex in history, including making hundreds of new plutonium bomb cores for new nuclear weapons. These plans for new nuclear weapons fuel a nuclear arms race that we can already see brewing internationally. The Union of Concerned Scientists urges us to tell Congress to stop this unnecessary, expensive and potentially dangerous expansion of U.S. nuclear weapons.

Diane Smith, Los Angeles