( CNN ) -- The world has inched further away from doom and nuclear disaster , said a group of respected scientists that includes 19 Nobel Laureates . The symbolic Doomsday Clock has been moved back a minute , reflecting the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists ' more optimistic view of the world 's chances of avoiding catastrophic threats such as nuclear attacks . The clock is now set at six minutes to midnight , with midnight representing a nuclear apocalypse , according to the group , which is based in Chicago , Illinois . `` We are poised to bend the arc of history toward a world free of nuclear weapons . For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945 , leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material , '' the scientists said in a statement Thursday . The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 and had been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday , the group said . The closest it has been to midnight is two minutes , from 1953 to 1960 , after the Soviet Union and the United States stepped up testing of thermonuclear devices . The farthest has been 17 minutes , from 1991 to 1995 , after the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty . `` A key to the new era of cooperation is a change in the U.S. government 's orientation toward international affairs , brought about in part by the election of [ President Barack ] Obama , '' the group said . `` With a more pragmatic , problem-solving approach , not only has Obama initiated new arms-reduction talks with Russia , he has started negotiations with Iran to close its nuclear enrichment program , and directed the U.S. government to lead a global effort to secure loose fissile material in four years . `` He also presided over the U.N. Security Council last September , where he supported a fissile material cutoff treaty and encouraged all countries to live up to their disarmament and nonproliferation obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty , '' said the group , which added that much more work needs to be done . Threats remain around the world , the scientists said , noting that governments might not live up to pledges to reduce nuclear arms and combat climate change . Scientists and other experts who had produced the atomic bomb for the Manhattan Project established the group in 1945 , its Web site said .
Clock is now set at Midnight , the United States -based group says . Midnight represents a nuclear apocalypse . Farthest had been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday . Doomsday Clock was Midnight after the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty .