Nuclear Disasters / World War III

"You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake."


"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ANY PARTICULAR PLACE ON EARTH GOT NUKED? You'll get a map of the area showing the effects of a nuclear blast, given the megatonnage of your choice, superimposed on a map of the area.

Doomsday Clock - from The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. They have been setting the clock since 1947 according to their assessment of the immediacy of the risk of nuclear war.
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." - Dwight D. Eisenhower


SEPTEMBER 2001 -
The world went on a terror alert, September 11, 2001, in the wake of audacious attacks in New York and Washington that left people around the globe wondering whether their cities might be next. Governments around the world urged calm and stepped up security.

JUNE 2001 -
What will the next terrorist act be? Some believe it will involve the detonation of a nuclear weapon somewhere, perhaps Washington. Nuclear terrorism is probably a far greater threat than the danger of a missile attack on the United States, but no effort is being made to detect fissionable material being smuggled into our country, and the Bush administration has slashed funding for efforts to help other nations like Russia safeguard their own nuclear materials.

DECEMBER 2000 -
Russia and the United States made the nightmare of inadvertent nuclear strike a little less likely -- a scenario which came terrifyingly close in 1995 when Moscow mistook a research rocket for a missile. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, with five weeks left in office, agreed with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to share data on more missile tests and other rocket launches like the one that had former Russian President Boris Yeltsin weighing his retaliatory options. The pre- and post-launch notification system envisages a data center opening in Moscow and builds on agreements to share early warning information signed in 1998 and June 1999. The two countries agreed back in 1991 under START I, the first in a series of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties slashing nuclear arsenals, to tell each other about launches of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The new memorandum of understanding expanded on this to include shorter-range ballistic missiles, sounding and research rockets and most space launch vehicles. It also allows for each side to notify the other on a voluntary basis of objects leaving orbit or experiments that early warning systems might mistake for missiles. Norway said it had notified embassies beforehand when it launched its Black Brant XII research rocket in January 1995. But the message had clearly not reached Yeltsin, who said afterwards he had used his "black suitcase" hotline link to his generals for the first time to discuss a possible retaliatory strike. The near-catastrophic, 24-minute flight of the 15-meter (50 foot) long research rocket, part of a Norwegian-American project to study the Northern Lights, highlighted the dangers of nuclear arsenals which the former Cold War enemies are committed to reduce in the new era.

SEPTEMBER 2000:
Fourteen years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, wheat grown in Ukraine near the nuclear power station is six times more likely to show mutations than crops grown in uncontaminated soil, scientists have discovered.

A nuclear power plant in Siberia was shut down after an unexplained power surge, officials say. No radiation leaks were reported.

AUGUST 2000:
New Zealand authorities foiled a plot that apparently targeted a nuclear reactor in Sydney during this year's Olympics.

"Russian authorities insist the downed Kursk poses no threat to the environment, but ecological groups warn the vessel's nuclear reactors inevitably will leak, creating a serious hazard. "

Environmentalists warned Russia"s leaders against allowing the sunken Kursk submarine to cause another tragedy, saying they must swiftly ensure that its nuclear reactors are safe.

A nuclear-armed B-52 crashed in Baffin Bay in 1968. It was carrying four bombs - three smashed on impact — spreading nuclear waste over 20 acres. Detective work by the staff of the Thule airbase shows that the unarmed hydrogen bomb could be lying in the ice under the bay. Workers at the base claim they have suffered cancer and other debilitating diseases as a result of the cleanup from the crash, and are seeking damages. Tons of ice and debris were removed from the site, at enormous cost...Some reports suggest that the Pentagon is still searching for that fourth bomb today."

July 25, 2000 - Third Japanese nuclear reactor shut down in five days - it was the third incident at Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc"s (TEPCO) Fukushima nuclear facility 250 km (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo since an earthquake struck last Friday, but TEPCO said the incidents were probably unrelated. Leaked iodine at the reactor was rated level zero on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) but it comes amid growing public unease about Japan"s nuclear industry following a spate of accidents. A TEPCO spokesman said a faulty fuel rod at the Fukushima No. 2 station may have caused the iodine leak. On Monday, TEPCO shut a 784-megawatt reactor after finding an oil leak, which was due to a cracked duct. That incident occurred two days after TEPCO shut down a 1.1 gW reactor after a rise in waste gas -- fumes released by a nuclear generator -- following an earthquake earlier in the day. " Public anger at several major accidents at nuclear-related facilities over the past five years has forced delays in the government"s nuclear energy programme. Japan has 51 commercial nuclear reactors that provide about a third of the country"s electricity.

The flames at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state may now be mostly snuffed out, but scientists say that possible health hazards from the blaze are not over. Because of the risks involved, only firefighters experienced in radiation hazards are at the scene and are wearing monitors to measure exposure.

"The Pentagon schedule to build a missile defense is entirely driven by the belief that North Korea will have a long-range missile by 2005" supposedly able to hit U.S. soil.

An international crime ring operating under the name of an imaginary principality off the coast of Britain tried to acquire arms worth at least $50 million from Russia.he leaders were posing as officials of Sealand -- in reality an abandoned military concrete platform.

The five nuclear powers on the Security Council agreed Saturday, May 20, 2000, to eliminate their nuclear arsenals, as part of a new disarmament agenda approved by 187 countries.

May 16, 2000 - California Nuclear Reactor Releases Radioactive Steam. According to regulators, a reactor at California's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant began releasing steam that could contain tiny amounts of radioactivity after an electrical problem caused an automatic shutdown of the reactor early Monday. Officials confirmed that the radioactivity released by the reactor would be well below federal limits, and a Nuclear Regulatory Commission statement said, "no impacts to public health and safety are anticipated." No one was injured during the event, which plant operators declared an "unusual event," the lowest of NRC's four emergency classifications. The problem started in electrical cabling inside the Unit 1 turbine generator building around 12:25 a.m. on Monday. That led to the shut down of the turbine, which in turn shut down the Unit 1 reactor. There were no significant complications, and the reactor systems functioned properly during the shutdown, according to the NRC. Diablo Canyon plant operators were working to restore electrical power. discovery.com

April 26, 2000 - the United Nations issued new warnings about the long-term effects of the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown disaster. The report cautioned that the worst consequences for the health of millions of people may still yet happen. The 32-page report stated, "At least 100 times as much radiation was released by this accident as by the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. . ."
The worst hit countries of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia have been plagued with problems related to the disaster which killed three people immediately, and 28 other emergency workers within the following three months. An additional 106 members of the emergency crew that first arrived on the scene were also diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome. The reported stated that a total of 600,000 people who had later assisted in the cleanup and the construction of the cover to seal off the reactor "must be constantly monitored for the effects of exposure to radiation."
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote in the forward of the that because of delayed reactions to radiation exposure, "Not until 2016, at the earliest, will be known the full number of those likely to develop serious medical conditions." He said that three million children require treatment and numerous other children would die prematurely due to the effects of radiation.

Ukraine's Defence Minister confessed on Monday that a missile fired in military training hit an apartment block 130 km (80 miles) away last week, killing three residents. "Missile forces have had a bad few days in the former Soviet Union. A Russian dummy weapon hit a Ukrainian passenger ship in the Black Sea on Monday. Another Russian missile went out of control in Kazakhstan on Friday."

MARCH 2000:
War in Congo has degenerated into unprecedented disaster, expert says.

Attack ads, Taiwanese style, stir nuclear war fears - The ruling Nationalist Party went on the attack Friday with a TV ad campaign showing a submarine prowling to the ominous sound of sonar pinging, as the screen flashed warnings about China's nuclear arsenal. The message: A victory by pro-independence candidate Chen Shui-bian could provoke an attack by China that would make the island's devastating earthquake in September seem like a minor jolt.

DECEMBER 1999:
The doomsday cult that released deadly nerve gas into Tokyo's subways is still capable of terrorism, Japanese police have concluded, Kyodo News agency reported December 8, 1999. "There is a fear of possible cyber-terrorism in the future," given the cult membership's professional skills and its network of affiliated computer companies. Aum Shinri Kyo plans to regroup around former spokesman Fumihiro Joyu, 36, who will be freed from prison at the end of this year after serving a three-year sentence. Aum apologized for the first time on Dec. 1 and promised compensation for a string of attacks, including the sarin nerve gassing that killed 12 and sickened thousands in a Tokyo subway station in March 1995. Victims' relatives have dismissed the apology as a self-serving move meant to thwart a bill in Parliament that would provide for monitoring for groups that have committed mass murder, such as Aum. It is expected to become law by the end of the year. The bill was proposed after a resurgence in Aum's activities, including recruiting efforts.

Experts Warn of 'Agroterrorism' Threat - Livestock and Produce Vulnerable to Disease Attack . Terrorists who want to create economic chaos in the United States could try to sneak foot-and-mouth disease into the nation's livestock yards or bomb cornfields with blight instead of using car bombs to inflict human carnage, according to members of Congress who've talked with agriculture experts. That's the picture being painted in recent weeks for people such as U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and New Mexico Land Commissioner Ray Powell. Agricultural experts are telling them it's only a matter of time before terrorists try to wreck the country's food and fiber business. Terrorists lugging lunch coolers into the darkness near a giant Midwestern feedlot could easily swab the muzzles of a dozen steers with the contagious foot-and-mouth disease, the experts are saying. Cattle feedlots and hog and chicken farms are easily accessible and often contain large numbers of animals.

November 20, 1999 - As China's successful launch into orbit of its Shenzhou spacecraft received saturation coverage in the state-controlled Chinese press, a Chinese military expert told the China Business Times that the test had major military implications. Song Yichang said that the same low-power propulsion technology used to adjust a spacecraft's orbit in flight could also be used to alter the path of offensive missiles, thus enabling China to overcome U.S. anti-missile defenses.


The Washington Post reports that Pentagon strategists, lawyers, and ethicists have been toying with the question of how a military invasion of a hostile nation's information systems might play out against the international "rules of war." Halfway through the war with Yugoslavia, Department Of Defense legal eagles distributed to the top brass guidelines for conducting information warfare. They suggested that military commanders avoid civilian cyber targets (banks, universities) as carefully as they would if they were bombing brick-and-mortar sites, the Post reports. Arbitrary cyber assaults with serious civilian repercussions -- opening a dam's floodgates, releasing radioactivity -- would be just as illegal under international law as if they were performed manually. The article ends with a sample tactic dismissed during the war with Yugoslavia: "to bombard the Yugoslav leadership with faxes and other forms of harassment."


U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 8 - The cover story forecasts a space arms race.The availability of high-quality satellite imagery has prompted the Pentagon to develop a plan to dominate space, a scheme that includes the deployment of space-based lasers. Some senators want to create a fifth military service: the American Space Force.


October 27, 1999 - A small number of U.S. nuclear power facilities remain potentially vulnerable to the Year 2000 computer glitch, congressional investigators said. At particular risk are two plants -- in Pennsylvania and Alabama -- that have not yet completed their 2000-related work on operating and support systems, the General Accounting Office (GAO) said in a report to Congress.


October 25, 1999 - Moscow warned the United States that it has enough weapons to overwhelm any anti-ballistic missile system, and threatened to deploy more atomic warheads if Washington builds a national missile defense system. In a story from Moscow, the Post quoted Nikolai Mikhailov, first deputy defense minister, as saying that Russia's arsenal has such "technical capabilities" to "overcome" any antimissile defenses. He told the Post the technology was available and would be used if "the United States pushes us toward it."


Higher-than-expected levels of a man-made, cancer-causing element first introduced as a by-product of nuclear bomb tests has been found in baby teeth collected near nuclear power plants in three states, U.S. researchers said Thursday.Directors of the non-profit Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) said at a news conference that levels of the element, radioisotope Strontium (Sr-90), should have dropped to almost zero once all global aboveground nuclear bomb testing ended in 1980. Most of the 515 teeth analyzed were from the 1979-1992 period and had similar concentrations of Strontium-90 as those found in children in the mid-1950s when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were still doing atmospheric nuclear bomb tests, according to initial findings of a RPHP study. "There is cancer-causing Strontium-90 in children's teeth. It shouldn't be there," Dr Ernest Sternglass, Professor Emeritus of Radiological Physics at the University of Pittsburgh said in releasing the initial findings of independent laboratory analysis.

"FBI chief forensic scientist Randall S. Murch said recently at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Murch believes a terrorist attack on U.S. soil with nonconventional weapons is highly likely within this generation or the next. "It's not a matter of if but when. " At the turn of the millennium, terrorists can pick from a veritable wish list of high-impact U.S. targets -- New Year's Eve in Times Square and Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, then next summer's Republican and Democratic party conventions, even the presidential inauguration and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Work already has started to head off any potential calamity, the FBI says, with agents tracking millenarian groups, anti-government groups and international terrorists thought to pose a credible risk of attack. "

The latest medical technology will probably be turned against humanity in the form of lethal biological and genetic weapons, warn doctors. The profession is holding a conference to examine the threat to health - and work out ways of getting these new weapons outlawed. Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of health policy at the British Medical Association says that advances in genetics mean that the world is more dangerous than even at the height of the Cold War. She says that the world is potentially only a decade away from weapons that can discriminate between races.

The CIA is investigating whether a recent outbreak of West Nile-like fever in New York might have been an attempt at bio-terrorism, The New Yorker magazine reported on Sunday. The virus, which killed five people and made at least 27 others ill, is believed to have been passed to people via mosquitoes that bit infected birds. Without quoting anyone directly at the Central Intelligence Agency, the magazine describes analysts there as having a "whiff of concern" that it might have been sent deliberately to the United States.

Israel expressed alarm Monday at the rise of Joerg Haider's anti-foreigner Freedom Party in Austria's parliamentary election and warned of the "spread of the neo-Nazi and fascist plague." "The rise of the extreme right must set off alarm bells among all the people of the free world who still recall the horrors of the Second World War," Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement.

A reported"criticality" accident at Japan's Tokai-Mura nuclear plant would be the 60th in the world since 1945, following 33 such accidents in the United States and 19 in the former Soviet Union.