Mutually Assured Destruction free essay sample

Among the potential components of the defense system were both space- and earth-based laser battle stations, which, by a combination of methods, would direct their killing beams toward moving Soviet targets. Air-based missile platforms and ground-based missiles using other non-nuclear killing mechanisms would constitute the rear echelon of defense and would be concentrated around such major targets as U. S. ICBM silos. The sensors to detect attacks would be based on the ground, in the air, and in space, and would use radar, optical, and infrared threat-detection systems. This system would tip the nuclear balance toward the United States. The Soviets feared that SDI would enable the United States to launch a first-strike against them. Critics pointed to the vast technological uncertainties of the system, in addition to its enormous cost. Although work was begun on the program, the technology proved to be too complex and much of the research was cancelled by later administrations. The idea of missile defense system would resurface later as the National Missile Defense. old War: A Brief History Chernobyl On April 26, 1986, the worlds worst nuclear-power accident occurred at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. The accident occurred when technicians at reactor Unit 4 attempted a poorly designed experiment. The chain reaction in the core went out of control. Several explosions triggered a large fireball and blew off the heavy steel and concrete lid of the reactor. This and the ensuing fire in the graphite reactor core released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. A partial meltdown of the core also occurred. A cover-up was attempted, but on April 28, Swedish monitoring stations reported abnormally high levels of wind-transported radioactivity and pressed for an explanation. The Soviet Union finally acknowledged that the accident had occurred. An estimated 100 to 150 million curies of radiation escaped into the atmosphere before cleanup crews were able to bring the fires under control and stabilize the situation some two weeks later. The radioactivity was spread by the wind over Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine and soon reached as far west as France and Italy. Finally, workers erected an enormous concrete-and-steel shell or sarcophagus over the damaged reactor to prevent radioactive materials, including gases and dust, from further escaping. Initially, the Chernobyl accident caused the deaths of 32 people. Dozens more contracted serious radiation sickness; some of these people later died. Millions of acres of forest and farmland were contaminated; and although many thousands of people were evacuated, hundreds of thousands more remained in contaminated areas. In addition, in subsequent years many livestock were born deformed, and among humans several thousand radiation-induced illnesses and cancer deaths were expected in the long term. In December 2000 the last of the four reactors at Chernobyl was shut down. The End of the Cold War With the passing of several Soviet leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev assumed control of the Soviet Union. His rise to power ushered in an era of perestroika (restructuring) and of glasnost (openness). U. S. -Soviet relations improved considerably during the middle 1980s. At a dramatic summit meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986, Gorbachev proposed a 50-percent reduction in the nuclear arsenals of each side, and for a time it seemed as though a historic agreement would be reached. The summit ended in failure, owing to differences over SDI. However, on December 8, 1987, the  Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treatywas signed in Washington, eliminating an entire class of nuclear weapons. The INF Treaty was the first arms-control pact to require an actual reduction in nuclear arsenals rather than merely restricting their proliferation. As the decade came to an end, much of the Eastern Bloc began to crumble. The Hungarian government took down the barbed wire on its border with Austria and the West. The Soviet Union did nothing in response. Although travel was still not completely free, the Iron Curtain was starting to unravel. On November 10, 1989, one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War came down: the Berlin Wall. By the end of the year, leaders of every Eastern European nation except Bulgaria had been ousted by popular uprisings. By mid-1990, many of the Soviet republics had declared their independence. Turmoil in the Soviet Union continued, as there were several attempts at overthrowing Gorbachev. On December 8, 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian Republic, formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (C. I. S. ). After 45 years, the Cold War was over. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world generally felt that the threat of a nuclear war had subsided. On May 11, 1998, the world was reminded that nuclear proliferation was still an issue, as India shocked the world by conducting three underground nuclear tests in the Rajasthan Desert in western India. Indian officials claimed that they were a fission device, a low-yield device and a thermonuclear device. Although, India had conducted a peaceful nuclear explosion in 1974, it was generally assumed that the country was not overly active in developing more nuclear devices. Two days later, India conducted two more sub-kiloton nuclear tests. Pakistan further increased global tensions when it conducted five nuclear tests on May 28, 1998. Officials did not release any information about the types or yields of the tests. Two days later, Pakistan conducted one more nuclear test. Pakistan had pursued the development of nuclear weapons since 1972. Their bomb development has been rumored to be greatly assisted by the Chinese. The United States placed economic sanctions on both countries as required by the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Act. Both countries have announced a moratorium on further nuclear testing. In a report from  Seismological Research Letters, India and Pakistan exaggerated the number and size of the nuclear weapons each nation detonated, overstating the power of the atomic bombs by a factor of four. According to the analysis, two of the five nuclear explosions announced by the Indian government may never have taken place. The study also reported that only two in the series of nuclear tests that the Pakistan government announced actually involved real nuclear explosions. The Risks One reason for the concern that India and Pakistan had acquired nuclear weapons is the fact that since 1947 they had gone to war three times and had several skirmishes over the control of Kashmir. Each side has continued development of more advanced weapons systems, including ballistic missile systems. However, steps are being taken to reduce the risks of a nuclear confrontation by both sides, such as establishing a hot line between the two governments. Proliferation Concerns In 2004, the rogue nuclear network led by A. Q. Khan, a chief architect of Pakistans nuclear bomb was finally acknowledged by the Pakistani government. Intelligence officials had watched Dr. Khan for years and suspected that he was trafficking in machinery for enriching uranium to make fuel for warheads. He confessed on national television was pardoned soon after by President Musharraf and has been under house arrest since. The Pakistani government claimed that Khan acted independently and without state knowledge. Libya, Iran and probably North Korea had some assistance with their nuclear weapons programs from Kahn. The complete extent of Khans decades-long involvement in the illegal transfer of nuclear materials and technologies is not known. In March 2006, India and the United States sealed a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation pact. The pact marks a major breakthrough for New Delhi, long treated as a nuclear pariah by the world, as it allows it to access American atomic technology and fuel to meet its soaring energy needs provided the U. S. Congress gives its approval. Just as India and Pakistan have come out of the nuclear shadows, several other nations also have advanced nuclear programs. Worlds Nuclear States (2006) South Africa South Africa is the only nation to have successfully developed nuclear weapons and then voluntarily dismantled its entire nuclear-weapons program. In March 1993, then-President De Klerk announced that the nation had produced nuclear weapons, but destroyed them before signing the NPT in 1991. South Africa also became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 1995. It was further revealed that on the night of September 22, 1979, the flash detected by the U. S. VELA satellite was from a nuclear explosion. South Africa also acknowledged that it had received assistance from Israel in exchange for 550 tons of raw uranium. Israel Israel is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons, but generally is regarded as a de facto nuclear-weapon state. Based on the real or perceived threat from its Arab and Persian neighbors, Israel continues to maintain a highly advanced military, a nuclear-weapons program and offensive and defensive missiles. Israels nuclear program, the most advanced in the Middle East, began in the late 1950s to meet the perceived threat to the state. Its missile program began in the 1960s with French assistance. Its nuclear arsenal is estimated at between 20 and 100 Nagasaki-sized bombs. The country has formally stated that it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. Israel has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but has signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Iraq After Iraqs defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discovered that Iraq had violated the NPT by secretly pursuing a nuclear-weapons program. The IAEA investigation revealed details of Baghdads efforts to design an implosion-type nuclear explosive device and to test its non-nuclear components, including Iraqs plans to produce large quantities of lithium-6, a material used usually for the production of boosted atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. IAEA officials estimated that Iraq might have been able, had the war not intervened, to) to manufacture its first atomic weapons, using indigenously produced weapons-grade uranium, as early as the fall of 1993. IAEA inspectors returned to Iraq in November 2002 after a four-year lapse and stayed until their March 2003 evacuation, which preceded the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The subsequent invasion by U. S. -led coalition forces was rooted in the belief that Saddam Husseins regime had been deceiving the IAEA and hiding its WMD arsenals and capabilities. Although investigations confirmed that Iraqs nuclear programs were destroyed after the first Gulf War, it was believed that Iraq had not abandoned its quest for nuclear weapons. It was estimated that Iraq could probably rebuild its nuclear-weapons program and manufacture a device in five to seven years, if United Nations sanctions were removed. While Iraqs WMD arsenals and capabilities were never discovered, troubling reports have emerged about missing nuclear-related equipment and materials in Iraq that, according to the IAEA, has been disappearing from previously monitored sites since the start of the war in 2003. Iran Iran is another threshold nation. Although Iran had been a party to the NPT since 1970, it is believed to have pursued a secret nuclear-weapons program since the mid-1980s. China and Russia have been Irans main suppliers of nuclear technology. As Irans nuclear capabilities grew, the EU-3 (France, Great Britain and Germany) sought to negotiate with Iran about the issue of peaceful nuclear-research activities, including the development of a nuclear fuel-cycle infrastructure in mid-2005. Attempts were made to persuade Iran to give up its fuel-cycle ambitions and accept nuclear fuel from abroad, but Tehran made it clear that any proposal that did not guarantee Irans access to peaceful nuclear technology would lead to the cessation of all nuclear-related negotiations with the EU-3. Tensions were further heightened when highly enriched uranium (HEU) particle contamination was found at various locations in Iran. In August 2005, the IAEA announced that contamination was found to be of foreign origin and concluded that much of the HEU found on centrifuge parts was from imported Pakistani equipment, rather than from any enrichment activities conducted by Iran. However, The EU said Iran had lost its right to nuclear energy under Article 4 of the NPT because it violated Article 2-not to seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture of nuclear-related weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The country refused to comply with the resolution from the IAEA to halt its nuclear program. The next month, the IAEA found Iran in non-compliance of the NPT. The resolution passed with 21 votes of approval, with Russia and China among the 12 who abstained from voting. The IAEAs report on Irans nuclear ambitions topped the agenda of a closed-door meeting of the United Nation s Security Council on March 17, 2006. After the meeting, the Council announced that it was close to agreement on elements of a text reaffirming that Iran should comply with calls from the IAEA Governing Board and was seeking a report from the agencys director-general on the matter. Iran is attempting to finish its Bushehr reactor and establish a complete nuclear fuel cycle. Though it is not clear how close Iran is to developing a nuclear device, estimate range from a few years to nearly a decade. North Korea Although North Korea signed the NPT in 1985, it is believed to have pursued an active nuclear-weapons program, in violation of the Treaty. The country did not permit the IAEA to conduct required inspections, until May 1992. It is assumed that North Korea has made enough plutonium for one to two nuclear weapons. In a tentative agreement with the U. S. in 1994, North Korea agreed to suspend further development of nuclear weapons in exchange for increased aid and heating oil. In February 2005, a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry announced that North Korea had manufactured nuclear weapons. This announcement followed Pyongyangs January 2003 declaration that the country was withdrawing from the NPT. In early April 2005, North Korea shut down its 5MW(e) reactor in Yongbuon-kun and declared that the spent fuel would be extracted to increase North Koreas nuclear deterrent. Since North Korea had been operating the reactor since late February 2003, its technicians should be able to extract enough plutonium from the spent fuel for 1-3 nuclear bombs. In September 2005, the North Korean delegation to the Six-Party Talks in Beijing signed a Statement of Principles whereby Pyongyang agreed to abandon all nuclear programs and return to the NPT and IAEA safeguards. However, on the following day a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry declared that the U. S. would have to provide a light-water reactor to North Korea in order to resolve the lack of trust between the two countries. The Six-Parties agreed to meet again. Additionally, in mid-2002, U. S. intelligence discovered that North Korea had been receiving materials from Pakistan for a highly enriched uranium-production facility. In October 2002, the U. S. State Department informed North Korea that the U. S. as aware of this program, which is a violation of Pyongyangs nonproliferation commitments. North Korean officials initially denied the existence of such a program, but then acknowledged it. The IAEA has not been able to verify the completeness nor correctness of North Koreas initial declaration submitted in 1992, and the agency cannot verify whether fissile material has been diverted to military use. Libya Another nation of concern was Libya. In December 2003, Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadha fi publicly confirmed his commitment to disclose and dismantle WMD programs in his country following a nine-month period of negotiations with U. S. and UK authorities. He also pledged to adhere to the NPT, which Libya had ratified in 1975, and to sign the Additional Protocol, which was done on March 10, 2004. He then invited the IAEA to verify the elimination of nuclear-weapon-related activities in Libya, which the agency did in December 2003. Inspectors found imported equipment and technology at a number of previously secret nuclear facilities in and around Tripoli. It has been revealed that Abdul Qadeer Khan of Pakistan is responsible for providing Libya with its nuclear warhead p lans, raw uranium and enrichment centrifuges through his black-market network One of the most significant international agreements that attempted to address the spread of nuclear weapons is the  Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This treaty is an attempt to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. Under the terms of the NPT, the nations with nuclear weapons are committed not to sell them or aid in their development. Similarly, the non-nuclear states pledge not to acquire nuclear weapons or the technology to manufacture them. To date 185 nations have signed the NPT. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) governs the inspection of their facilities. In 1996, the world renewed the treaty indefinitely. Major non-signers of the NPT include India, Pakistan, Cuba, and Israel. In addition to the NPT, another major treaty towards arms control is the  Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which has been signed by 150 countries. It completely bans all testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater or below ground. Efforts toward this treaty have been underway since the 1960s. However, like the NPT, it has several major non-signers. Some treaties, including the  Antarctic Treaty, the  Treaty of Tlatelolco, and the  Outer Space Treaty, have sought to control the places where nuclear weapons can be deployed. Although the NPT limits the possession of nuclear weapons, none of these treaties limit the number of weapons nor have they led to disarmament. There have been several arms-limitation treaties;  Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), the Vladivostok Agreement, and  SALT II. In 1988, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the  Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which broke new ground by eliminating an entire class of nuclear missiles. This treaty was followed by the  Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which was signed on July 31, 1991, after almost ten years of difficult negotiations. However, with the breakup of the Soviet Union five months later, four independent states with strategic nuclear weapons came into existenceBelarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine. Through the Lisbon Protocol, signed in 1992, all four states became parties to the START I treaty. The treaty did not enter into force until these new states ratified the treaty and signed the NPT as non-nuclear states. Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine have removed all their nuclear warheads. The START I treaty was followed by  START II. After much delay, the treaty was finally ratified by the Russians in April 2000. The United States had ratified the treaty in 1996. By the end of the treatys reduction timetable, the total number of strategic warheads could not exceed 3,500. By the end of 2002, no MIRVed ICBMs were allowed to be deployed. The treaty also limits the number of warheads on SLBMs, which can remain MIRVed. Currently efforts are focused on negotiating the START III treaty, which would create a ceiling of 2,000-2,500 strategic weapons. Cold War: A Brief History National Missile Defense In the wake of the Gulf War and the use of Patriot missiles against Iraqi SCUD missiles, the United States increased its development of a variety of missile defense systems. National Missile Defense (NMD) is a program designed to defeat a limited ballistic missile strike against the United States. This system uses a Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) to hit the incoming warhead before it reenters the atmosphere. The goal of the NMD is to create a system that is capable of striking in space a fast-moving intercontinental ballistic missile headed toward the U. S. The NMD system would need to track attacking missiles and then launch and guide intercepting vehicles into the warheads, avoiding debris and decoys. The U. S. has had only limited success with the system during testing. In May 2001, President George W. Bush announced that the U. S. as going to move forward in the development of the NMD. However, any further development of an anti-ballistic missile defense system would have violated the  1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. The ABM treaty prohibits the development, testing and deployment of strategic missile defense systems and components that are based in the air, at sea or in space. On December 13, 2001, President Bush formally notified Russia and three former Sovie t republics that it had invoked Article 15 of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to withdraw from the pact in six months. It marked the first time in the nuclear era that the United States has renounced a major arms control treaty. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by saying, This step was not a surprise for us. However, we consider it a mistake. Current estimates of the cost to develop, build and operate an NMD are about $80 billion. Efforts are also underway to develop a Theater Missile Defense, which is designed to protect regions that are not covered by the NMD but are under threat from a ballistic missile attack. Thousands of nuclear weapons are not the only legacy of the Atomic Age. Years of aboveground testing and nuclear weapons production have produced massive amounts of nuclear waste and contamination. A National Cancer Institute study reported that many states not adjacent to the Nevada Test Site also received high levels of Iodine 131. It is not known how many cancers may be attributed to aboveground testing, nor the levels or extent of fallout from Soviet testing. Testing in the Pacific has also left many atolls uninhabitable and their residents islandless. Studies continue on the long-term effects of exposure to the bombs fallout. But far more dangerous than the fallout from testing is the dilemma of the massive amounts of nuclear waste. The arms race has produced waste from such sources as the reactors that make the plutonium and tritium, the tailings from uranium mining, and other by-products from the nuclear weapons development process. As more nuclear weapons are removed, the safe storage of their warheads becomes increasingly more urgent. Safe storage of other nuclear materials is also an area of international concern.