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Nuclear Strikes Essay, Research Paper

Nuclear Strikes

Scientifically, there is no obstacle for a nuclear or atomic bomb. There

are no secrets in Nuclear Science anymore. Anyone with a reasonable physics

degree and access to a good technical library could design a workable atomic

bomb in less than 6 months, so why hasn t anyone. Maybe there has been,

no one is exactly sure. In the last 52 years there has been enough nuclear

warheads made to destroy every city in the world and still have thousands left

over.(Church 40) This all happened during the Cold War, a period of 45 years (1947-

1991), between mainly the two superpowers (United States and the Soviet

Union). Other nations were involved, and 2 wars were fought over it (Korea

and Vietnam) and a nuclear war was almost waged (Cuban Missile Crisis).

Now with the breakup of the Soviet Union into a loose Commonwealth

no one is exactly sure who has all the weapons. Certain nations inherited

them, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Russia, while others tried stealing

them, Iran, Libya, and North Korea. And since the breakup certain people

have been caught stealing the materials needed to make a bomb. These

terrorists have never been caught in the United States but numerous times in

Europe.(www.pbs.org) As a matter of fact, the Russians say someone stole a bomb

simulator, which will explode and make mushroom cloud but has no nuclear

component.(Wilkie) People know that despite efforts to keep control on the old

Soviet stockpile and waste, terrorists are getting the plutonium and

uranium needed to make nuclear weapons to kill masses of people.

This is kind of the history of the nuclear & atomic bomb: (all from Williams)

The first atomic bomb was thought up by Albert Einstein in the late

30 s. In 1942 Enrico Fermi brought about first nuclear reaction with isotope

Uranium 235. From this the Manhattan Project was brought about and took

place in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Then July 16, 1945 near Alamogordo,

New Mexico world s first atomic bomb was set off. Three weeks later on August

6, 1945 “Little Boy” hit Hiroshima and had the force of 26 million pounds of

TNT. Next on August 9, 1945 “Fat Man” missed it s mark but still

devastated Nagasaki causing an unconditional surrender by the Japanese.

Then in 1946 the United Nations tried to outlaw the weapons but the Soviets

used their veto power against it. Finally in 1949 they developed their own

weapons. In 1952 the first hydrogen bomb was made with a force of 800

Hiroshima s. In 1953 the Russians did it too (thanks to the Rosenberg s).

In 1958 the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union stopped

testing but in 1961 France started. Then the Cuban Missile Crisis happened.

This event was the closest we have ever come to a nuclear war. This event

it really kind of woke the United States and Soviet Union up about what

could happen. Because of this a direct phoneline was set up between the Kremlin

and the white house.

The main question today is who has control of the weapons. The

former superpower Russia is in political turmoil. Now instead of two people

with their hands on the button there could be dozens! Even the Central

Intelligence Agency director John Deutch said he is afraid of loose nukes

being smuggled out of Russia.(McGirk 35) The United States is in pretty good condition

because not much nuclear waste is stolen (they believe) and no missiles ever

have been stolen. But in some countries nuclear technicians haven t been

paid in six months (Russia). Security is breaking down, and waste is leaking

out. What is everyone going to do the next morning after a nuclear terrorist

attack.

The four new formed nations of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and

Russia all have nuclear missiles. Although Ukraine and Belarus say they

want no part of them it is not known their real stance.(www.pbs.org) If they don t want

them then where will they go. They will probably send them to third world

nations or terrorist with a lot of money, because they are so poor. One

Russian political columnist Vladlen Sirotikin said, “give me a million bucks,

and I ll have a nuclear tipped missile bought or stolen and delivered anyplace

you want.” The Pakistani Interior Minister General N. Babar admits his

government has been approached by smugglers with nuclear shopping lists.

In fact one Russian proverb which I think applies is, “The less you know,

the better you sleep.”(www.pbs.org)

There is 15 nations in the world with nuclear weapons. Besides the

United States other Declared Nuclear weapon states are China, Russia, Great

Britain, France and Kazakhstan. The Undeclared but known nuclear weapon

states are India, Pakistan, Israel, and Bangladesh. The Soviet successor states

that say they are getting rid of the weapons and waste are the Ukraine and

Belarus. There is three countries with active programs and wide spread

government condoned terrorism, Libya, Iran, and North Korea. The scary

thing about China is that they are a declared nuclear weapon state and it is

well known that Beijing is willing to sell nuclear weaponry (along with

anything else) to any state with the cash to pay for it. (www.pbs.org) Another scary thing

is about Iran because they have 10,000 students in our country, and Oliver

Revell, the second highest in the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

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