NATO and Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Europe – targets for terrorism

Little is known about the state of security on the Russian side, but Nunn draws attention to a 2008 US study that found that most of the nuclear weapons sites on the Nato side do not meet US defence department security guidelines……

Tactical nuclear weapons in Europe: the terrorist threat, guardian uk, 18 Nov 10, A former US senator calls for joint Nato-Russian security for vulnerable bombs The disarmament lobby is in damage-limitation mode after the body blows inflicted on Tuesday, with Jon Kyl’s apparent strangulation of the New Start treaty, and the realisation that Nato‘s “new strategic concept” – to be adopted at the Lisbon summit at the weekend – will do next to nothing to change the nuclear status quo in Europe.

The heady visions conjured up by Obama’s Prague speech in 2009 are all but forgotten. The focus now is on stopping Nato-Russian nuclear detente unravelling altogether. In an op-ed in today’s International Herald Tribune, Sam Nunn, former US senator and co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, makes a plea for joint Nato-Russian action to improve the security of the bombs he describes as “a terrorist’s dream”.

Nunn does not provide numbers, but there are thought to be about 200 American B-61 bombs in Europe (in bases in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and Turkey) and about 2,000 Russian warheads along that country’s western borders.

Little is known about the state of security on the Russian side, but Nunn draws attention to a 2008 US study that found that most of the nuclear weapons sites on the Nato side do not meet US defence department security guidelines……

Tactical nuclear weapons in Europe: the terrorist threat | World news | guardian.co.uk

November 18, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive