Nuclear Weapons & Nuclear Warfare

PHYSICS 20061, SS2012 Michael Wiescher Lecturers

Michael Wiescher, Physics NSH181 Manoel Couder, Physics Will Bauder NSH117a Karen Chamberlin NSH113b That’s You

 28,800: The total number of intact nuclear warheads retained by the United States and Russia.  30,000: Number of intact nuclear warheads throughout the world. 17,500 of these are operational.  128,000+: Estimated number of nuclear warheads built worldwide since 1945. All but 2 percent of these nuclear warheads have been built by the United States (55 % or 70,000+) and Russia (43 % or 55,000+).  10,729: Total number of intact U.S. nuclear warheads (274 warheads are awaiting dismantlement)  10,455: Total warheads in the U.S. stockpile  ~7,000: Number of operational strategic U.S. nuclear weapons  ~1,600: Number of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons (~800 of these are operational)  8,400: Total number of operational nuclear warheads in Russian arsenal Fact Sheet  5,000: Approximate number of Russian strategic nuclear weapons  3,400: Approximate number of operational Russian tactical nuclear weapons (total tactical arsenal said to comprise as many as 10,000+ weapons)  3,500: Approximate number of strategic U.S. nuclear weapons, year 2003 under START II.  3,000: Approximate number of strategic Russian nuclear weapons, year 2003 under START II.  ~2,000: Maximum number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons that will remain in the U.S. and Russian arsenals by 2012 ( The Treaty of Moscow (also known as SORT) signed by U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in May 2002.  10,000: The number of warheads the United States will retain in 2012 (essentially the same number as today)

 $3.5 trillion: Amount the United States spent between 1940 and 1995 to prepare to fight a nuclear war.  $27 billion: Amount the United States spends annually to prepare to fight a nuclear war.  $2.2 billion: Cost for one B-2 bomber (21 were authorized by Congress).  $2.5 billion: The lifecycle cost of each B-2 (RDT&E, procurement, operations, maintenance, support). The figures cited above were gathered with the aid of resources from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datainx.asp and the Secretary of Defense Office http://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/index.htm The History of warfare in the 20th century

The Physics of the bomb Technical Design of Bomb

Fat Man.exe

Little Boy.exe Infra-structure requirements for a nuclear weapon program Popularization of the Bomb the Fear Factor Duck and Cover

The Bomb Show the weapon test series 1945-1963 Medical Consequences "Lethal effects of radiation can be summarized briefly: a very high dose (5000 rads +) causes death in hours; a smaller but lethal dose (400 rads +): death in weeks. In the latter case, sickness starts with diarrhea and vomiting, followed by some temporary improvement, and then the same symptoms recur with the addition of hemorrhage, anemia, infections, and a slow death."

The U.S. "Federal Emergency Management Agency" predicts approximately 86,000,000 people dead and 34,000,000 severely injured in the United States. There are about 2,000,000 hospital beds in Canada and U.S.A. combined. Business Opportunities & Ethics Ecological Consequences Fall-Out International Nuclear Weapon Treaties

1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty 1967 Outer Space Treaty 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I ABM treaty 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I Interim Agreement 1979 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty 1993 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Personal Conscience “Thou shalt not kill” “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." The Bomb Test Series

Scientific Hubris? Syllabus

The course on Nuclear Warfare PHYS 20061 is offered by the Physics Department, co-listed by the Reilly Center of Technology and Values and the Kroc institute for International Peace Studies as an introductory course for non-science majors to provide an overview about the broad range of topics and aspects of nuclear weapons and warfare in the 20th century.

Class Content The course will start with the history and emergence of weapons of mass destruction technologies as a consequence of World War I and World War II, culminating in the development and use of the nuclear bomb. This will be followed by a discussion of the underlying physics principles to provide the necessary background for a basic understanding of nuclear weapons techniques and nuclear weapons effects as well as the decay radiation driven consequences. These consequences will be discussed in terms of short-range, atmospheric, biological, and medical effects together with the implications for social groups and societies. This will be complemented by an extensive discussion of the legal, political, and ethical implications of possession and use of nuclear weapons and nuclear warfare. Class Content 2012 Spring Nuclear Warfare Class Schedule Tuesday, Thursday 9:30‐10:45 am Date Lecture 17‐Jan‐12 Introduction & Overview & Participation 19‐Jan‐12 Modern Warfare in the 20th Century 24‐Jan‐12 Radioactivity, the New Toy 26‐Jan‐12 The Physics of Nuclear Decay 31‐Jan‐12 What is Nuclear Energy 02‐Feb‐12 Dawn of the Nuclear Age 07‐Feb‐12 The Total War 07‐Feb‐12 The Manhattan Project  Participation & Discussion 09‐Feb‐12 The German

Competition 14‐Feb‐12 Hiroshima & Nagasaki  Concentration points for class:16‐ Feb‐12 Uranium Bomb versus Plutonium Bomb 21‐Feb‐12 Destructive Power of Nuclear Weapons 3 questions/lecture 23‐Feb‐12 Biological and Medical Effects of Radiation 28‐Feb‐12 Early Moral Opposition 01‐Mar‐12 The Cold War, the First Case of Proliferation 08‐Mar‐12 The Hydrogen Bomb  x<10 Homework Sets 13‐Mar‐12 15‐Mar‐12 20‐Mar (collaborative effort) Mid‐Term Break

‐12 Natural Radioactivity 22‐Mar‐12 The US Testprogram  Midterm exam 27‐Mar‐12 US tests in atmosphere and under ground 29‐Mar‐12 The Cold War, Further Proliferation (single person effort) 03‐Apr‐12 Radiation Fall‐Out and Distribution 05‐Apr‐12 Nuclear Winter 10‐Apr‐12 Easter Break 12‐Apr‐12 Societal Impact and Emotional Fears 17‐Apr‐12 Nonproliferation Treaties an Hidden Proliferation  Final project report 19‐Apr‐

12 Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Productiom 24‐Apr‐12 Fuel Enrichment and Technical Challenges 26‐Apr‐12 Nuclear Waste Issues 01‐May‐12 Nuclear Terror and Nuclear Fears Are we prepared for a future nuclear war? Questions

Please answer in a short and precise manner – without using Google 1. What event triggered the first world war WWI 2. What is fission, and what is fusion 3. Who was Madam Curie 4. Where does nuclear radiation come from 5. What is the Manhattan project 6. What is the difference between U-235 and U-238 7. What was Trinity and what was Bikini 8. What was the purpose of the Easter marches 9. Who was the father of the atomic bomb 10. Who was the father of the hydrogen bomb 11. What was the Cuba crisis 12. List the countries which have nuclear weapons today 13. Is Iran allowed to perform uranium enrichment for peaceful energy production purposes 14. Should Israel have the atomic bomb 15. Should Iran have the atomic bomb 16. Should the USA have the atomic bomb 17. Are you afraid of nuclear terrorists 18. What is a dirty bomb