nuclear-news

Nuclear weapons and the race between cooperation and catastrophe

Sam Nunn tackling ‘global problem’ of nuclear weapons Former senator also discusses military, current politics, midstate Macon.com By JIM GAINES, 22 Jan 12 Nunn, a Democratic senator for 24 years, is one subject of a new book by former New York Times reporter and editor Philip Taubman.

“The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and their Quest to Ban the Bomb” chronicles the effort to control nuclear materials worldwide. Nunn joined former secretaries of state Henry
Kissinger and George Shultz, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry and Stanford University physicist Sidney Drell to write a 2007 Wall Street Journal article calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons,and they’ve traveled the world in quest of that goal ever since….

“He says if there’s a 10 percent chance of having a nuclear catastrophe — a city goes up — in a given year, and that persists for 50 years … there’s only one-half of a 1 percent chance of
avoidance,” Nunn said. “In other words, 99 and one-half percent chance it’s going to happen over 50 years, somewhere. If you can move that 10 percent to one percent … then over 50 years, you’ve got a 60 percent chance of avoidance. That’s what threat reduction’s all about. It’s a global problem, but as I say often — and it’s true — we’re in a race
between cooperation and catastrophe.”…..
“It’s not simply weapons. You’ve got to control nuclear material, and you’ve got to stop producing the stuff. You could get rid of every nuclear weapon in the world, and the world would still be a very dangerous place if a terrorist could make a weapon. Nobody’s saying
this is going to be easy. But the other way to go is to say ‘We’re going to have them forever.’….. http://www.macon.com/2012/01/22/1873859/former-senator-also-discusses.html

January 24, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | resources - print