| Low Yield Thinking |
26 May 2003
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Congress OKs Mini-Nuke Research
For a nation at war with terrorists, the US is cursed with a legislature that doesn't seem to have a clue. The House and Senate last week approved research into small battlefield nuclear bombs. In the 5-8 kiloton range, these weapons have little purpose to a conventional military. However, if stolen or replicated, they make an ideal terrorist device. One wonders which side Congress is on in this war.
A kiloton is the amount of destructive force a thousand ons of TNT produces, and it has been used as a measure of explosive force since Hiroshima's 20 kiloton blast. The Pentagon's recently used 5,000 to 20,000 pound conventional bombs, which are about the same in energy yielded. In other words, the US has bombs of this force that do not rely on fission but rather on chemical reactions to create the explosion. From an enemy soldier's point of view, the resulting awful death is the same in either case.
Unfortunately, conventional bombs of this force are big things. Nuclear ones would be smaller, easier to hide, easier to steal, easier to smuggle into a major city. Conventional bombs are safer for the US because they are unlikely to fall into the wrong hands. Usama bin Laden's dupes would be hard pressed to move a 20,000 pound bomb anywhere, let alone use it. A suitcase-sized nuke is a different matter.
The Pentagon says it only wants to study the idea, and the latest bill provides for Congress to retain approval of a micro-nukes deployment. Millions of dollars can be saved by observing that weapons currently exist that can yield a few kilotons, they are safer and more secure, and they do a decent job of bunker-busting. The micro-nuke is a dangerous weapon in search of a role, a recipe for disaster.