NUCLEAR WEAPONS NIGHTMARES

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY is no longer new, and therefore it's getting more difficult to keep it from spreading.

The United States however, tries hard to keep nuclear weapons away from countries it considers 'foes'.

While such attitude cannot engender cooperation, it definitely encourages the 'threatened states' to develop their own nuclear weapons, not to fire those but enjoy the benefits of deterrence.

According to Barry Posen, director of MIT's Security Studies Program, the US has its guns pointed at aspiring nuclear weapon states in a way that makes them feel less secure.

''I worry not about nuclear weapons in the hands of the states, but nuclear weapons that are stolen, nuclear weapons that are sold off the back of trucks,'' he says.

These concerns related to safety and security of nuclear weapons are undeniably valid. The more developed a country is, the higher is the responsibility of safety and security of its nuclear weapons.


Russia reportedly possesses 7,500 nuclear weapons at present, while the US has 7,100.

Together these armaments make about 93% of all nuclear weapons developed on earth.

More nukes means more chances of failure of the weapon system and their safety as well as danger to the people behind their operation. It also means heightened risk of a weapon falling into the hands of terrorists.

An estimated 732 nuclear weapon accidents have been reported and recorded in the US alone, referred to as ''Broken Arrows'' [referring to accidental launch, firing, detonation, stealing or loss].

Ironically, several are still missing, including one of two powerful thermonuclear bombs the US accidentally dropped and nearly detonated over North Carolina.

During the cold war era, the US missed at least eight fully explosive bombs, plus another nine that contain other radioactive substances, mostly depleted uranium.

On August 29, 2007, under the careful watch of Bush and Cheney administration, six thermo-nuclear 150 kilo-ton nuclear warheads went missing.

What role these weapons would have played in the planned nuclear terror attack in Dallas, Texas. on February 6, 2011, is unknown but  Barksdale Air Force Base, where the nukes were last seen, is roughly 100 miles from Texas.

The serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Nuclear Weapons Safety and Security  continues. The World Students Society thanks author and researcher Farooq Awan