Close calls with aging nukes shouldn’t be understated

The AP article about our aging nuclear warheads (Sunday, Sept. 24, Page 12A) does not clarify that these nukes are not the good old-fashioned atom bombs that killed 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These are hydrogen bombs with each up to 60 times the destruction capability of those old atom bombs. The detonation of the U.S. or the Russian nuclear arsenal would be the destruction of humanity.

Close-call nuclear accidents have been common since 1945. Paraphrasing the late Daniel Ellsberg, relying on luck is not a good strategy for avoiding nuclear omnicide.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed by the U.S. and 190 other countries in 1968, specifies that states possessing nuclear weapons “agree to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons.”

One risk factor with nuclear weapons is normal human behavior. Over the years there have been numerous incidents of nuclear force personnel failing proficiency tests or being caught abusing substances on the job. Youth, testosterone, bad behavior and nukes are not a good mix.

In 2013, the missile wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base failed safety and security inspections. The security officer in charge was relieved of duty. In 2014, over half of Malmstrom’s 183 missileers were implicated in the proficiency test cheating scandal.

Some sources for further reading:

•Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, by Eric Schlosser

•Union of Concerned Scientists, “I Wish I Didn't Know That: Real-life Tales of Close Calls, Screw-ups, and Nuclear Near Misses”

John Jadryev, President, Veterans For Peace Chapter #161

Iowa City