Nuclear security

8 surprising facts about the nuclear arms race

When nuclear policy makers talk about top-secret details, they often use mundane terms that downplay the deadliness of nuclear weapons. One notable exception is the term “megadeath.” As Schlosser explains, “a ‘megadeath’ is a unit of measurement in nuclear warfare. Ten megadeaths, for example, means that ten million people have been killed.” For a little perspective on the power of today’s nuclear arms: A single megadeath is at least four times greater than the number of people killed by the nuclear weapons detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.