Founded in 1969 by faculty and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) promotes four core objectives: nuclear arms reduction, a rational national security policy, safe nuclear power, and energy reform. UCS utilizes research, public education, and lobbying and litigation to achieve these goals. UCS also operates a speakers' bureau and publishes various informational materials, including a quarterly magazine addressing various energy and nuclear power issues.

UCS has engaged in a variety of programs targeting a wide range of people. One of the organization's first large-scale programs was the 1971 Atomic Energy Commission hearings, in which UCS revealed major weaknesses in nuclear plant system designs. Throughout the 1980s, UCS sponsored an annual Week of Education focusing on the nuclear arms race. The program was targeted at college students throughout the United States. In 1984 the group conducted a study...