Now I know why the sense has gone out of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Tom Cochran retired in 2007. Tom Cuchran did more than any other person in working towards a detailed public understanding of nuclear weapons and in formulating test ban verification.
“Dr. Thomas B. Cochran is a senior scientist in the nuclear program and holds the Wade Greene Chair for Nuclear Policy at NRDC. He served as director of the nuclear program until 2007. He initiated NRDC’s Nuclear Weapons Databook project. He also initiated a series of joint nuclear weapons verification projects with the Soviet Academy of Sciences. These include the Nuclear Test Ban Verification Project, which demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing seismic monitoring to verify a low-threshold test ban, and the Black Sea Experiment, which examined the utility of passive radiation detectors for verifying limits on sea-launched cruise missiles. He has served as a consultant to numerous government and non-government agencies on energy, nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear reactor matters.”
Obama’s contribution:
“New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) (SNV-III) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed on 8 April 2010 in Prague, and, after ratification, entered into force on 5 February 2011. It is expected to last at least until 2021.”
“The treaty limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550”.
See how good this is? Only 1,550 hydrogen bombs ready to be launched at a moment’s notice.
Feel safer now?
“Deployed missiles and bombers limited to 700”. This includes ICBM silos and submarines, as well as bomber aircraft. “Deployed and non-deployed launchers (missile tubes and bombers) limited to 800”.
Strategic arms numbers as of 1 October 2016:
USA 681 active launchers, 1367 warheads
USSR 508 active launchers, 1796 warheads
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Elimination Treaty between the USA and USSR of 1987 has lapsed because of countries other than Russia in Asia have such weapons, and because of US Cruise missiles. The INF Treaty eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of 500–5,500 km. The treaty did not cover sea-launched missiles.
There has been no treaty limiting the number of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons, which includes nuclear artillery shells and nuclear land mines. To put it another way, there’s no limit on A-Bombs.
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One positive sign is that many of the diehard anti-communists and anti-capitalists have now reached retirement age. Leading to a softening of the risk of WW-III.
