Nucleat Weapons Proliferation

Nonstrategic nuclear weapons have posed serious military and political concerns for nearly two generations. Anyone could argue that while strategic nuclear and conventional arms treaties have resolved much of the issues during the Cold War, there still remain an area left, and that is thousands of nonstrategic, theater, tactical, or battlefield nuclear weapons remaining on the soil of the former superpowers.

During this day in age and as technology continues to advance, so do ideas and inventions that cause massive destruction during times of conflict. The biggest problem today for countries seeking peace is the control the proliferation of nuclear weapons, or any other weapon of that sort, throughout the world. While security analysts and the general public assumed that the issue with nuclear weapons ended during the Cold War era, it is still a concern that needs to be addressed today. In the past 50 years, many treaties and organizations have been created to ensure and prolong the existence of mankind that is now threatened by weapons of mass destruction.

During 1991, a treaty was formed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in order to reduce the amount of strategic offensive arms, or highly destructive weapons that these two powers withhold. The treaty was named the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START. Its goal was to eliminate things like nuclear delivery vehicles, warheads, ballistic missiles, and any other things of that sort. This treaty was to be carried out in three phases for seven years from the date it entered force. The treaty was signed on July 31, 1991, but five months later the Soviet Union was broken into four different independent states. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine all became parties of the START treaty as legal successors of the Soviet Union. Due to the break up of the Soviet Union the START treaty had to be delayed. The START I treaty will have a 15 year duration and can be extended for five year periods by the agreement of all parties. All nuclear warheads have been removed from Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Belarus and Kazakhstan also have eliminated all their strategic offensive arms, while Ukraine is to still continuing to eliminate its accountable strategic offensive arms. On December 5, 2001, the United States and Russian Federation successfully reached the START levels of 6,000 total warheads held by each country. Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine have completely eliminated or removed nuclear arsenals from their territory left over from the Soviet Union.

START includes a meticulous verification process consisting of a detailed data exchange, extensive contact between all parties, 12 types of on-site inspection, and continuous monitoring designed to help verify that parties are complying with their treaty obligations. Baseline inspections to confirm the accuracy of the numbers and types of items were conducted at 72 former Soviet and 35 U.S. facilities from March through June 1995. In January 1995, the United States began continuous monitoring activities at missile assembly plants. START contains standards that allow up to 30 inspectors to conduct continuous monitoring at Soviet and U.S. weapon sites. As of 2003 the totals for both sides are around 3,000 warheads and should all be gone by 2007. Unfortunately only START has come into force in 1994 when it should have started in 1991, which is why the process has prolonged itself quite a few years than expected. A problem with this treaty is that it is only eliminating offensive weapons and does not pertain to defensive strategic weapons. As time progresses both states should maintain a level of non-nuclear offensive military operations. The START treaty has been very successful at what it was intended to do, and by eliminating nuclear arms from the two nations that possess the majority of nuclear weapons has only made it safer to live today. Although the U.S. and former Soviet Union will still hold small amounts of nuclear arms, they will only have the sole purpose as a defensive weapon.

India's nuclear weapons program was started at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Trombay, India. In the mid-1950’s India acquired use of technologies under the "Atoms for Peace" non-proliferation program, which aimed to encourage the use of nuclear technologies in exchange for assurances that they would not be used for military purposes. There was little evidence in the 1950’s that India had any interest in a nuclear weapons program, according to Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1). Under the "Atoms for Peace" program, India acquired a Cirus 40 MWt heavy-water-moderated research reactor from Canada and purchased from the U.S. the heavy water required for its operation. In 1964, India commissioned a reprocessing facility at Trombay, which was used to separate out the plutonium produced by the Cirus research reactor. This plutonium was used in India's first nuclear test on May 18, 1974, described by the Indian government as a "peaceful nuclear explosion." The testing of these nuclear devices violated the NPT (2) that India signed in agreement with the U.S. According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, India began work on a thermonuclear weapon in the 1980s. In 1989, William H. Webster, director of the CIA, testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that India was purifying lithium, producing tritium and separating lithium isotopes, which were primary ingredients for nuclear weapons. India had also obtained pure beryllium metal from West Germany (3).

After 24 years without testing, India resumed nuclear testing with a series of nuclear explosions known as "Operation Shatki." Prime Minister Vajpayee authorized the tests on April 8, 1998,