Download Special Focus 2 Chair Report-1

Commitee: Special Focus 2
Issue: Increasing the importance of nuclear control with a special focus on the
United States and the Russian Federation
Submitted by: Beste Nur Altıntaş
Position: President Chair
Introduction
The United States was the first country to manufacture nuclear weapons, with
help from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and is the only country to
have used them in combat, with the
separate bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. Before and
during the Cold War, it conducted over a thousand nuclear tests and tested
many long-range nuclear weapons delivery systems.
Between 1940 and 1996, the U.S. government spent at least $8.89 trillion in
present-day termson nuclear weapons, including platforms development
(aircraft, rockets and facilities), command and control, maintenance, waste
management and administrative costs. It is estimated that, since 1945, the
United States produced more than 70,000 nuclear warheads, which is more than
all other nuclear weapon states combined. The Soviet Union/Russia has
produced approximately 55,000 nuclear warheads since 1949, France built 1110
warheads since 1960, the United Kingdom built 835 warheads since 1952, China
built about 600 warheads since 1964, and other nuclear powers built fewer than
500 warheads all together since they developed their first nuclear
weapons. Until November 1962, the vast majority of U.S. nuclear tests were
aboveground. After the acceptance of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, all testing was
relegated underground, in order to prevent the dispersion of nuclear fallout.
By February 2006 over $1.2 billion in compensation had been paid to U.S.
citizens exposed to nuclear hazards as a result of the U.S. nuclear weapons
program, and by 1998 at least $759 million had been paid to the Marshall
Islanders in compensation for their exposure to U.S. nuclear testing.
In 2016, the United States maintained an arsenal of 4,500 warheads and facilities
for their construction and design, though many of the Cold War facilities have
since been deactivated and are sites for environmental remediation.
Key Terms
Nuclear Weapon:
An explosive device whose destructive potential derives from therelease of energ
y that accompanies the splitting or combining ofatomic nuclei.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing:
The United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, during the
final stage of World War II. The United States had dropped the bombs with the
consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two
bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear
weapons for warfare in history.
Cold war:
The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War
II between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states)
and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others).
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty:
PTBT is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests
in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test
detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground.
Nuclear Fallout:
Nuclear fallout, or simply fallout, is the residual radioactive material propelled
into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast or a nuclear
reaction conducted in an unshielded facility, so called because it "falls out" of the
sky after the explosion and the shock wave have passed.
The Marshall Islands:
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an island country located near
the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line.
Nuclear Weapon Tests:
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the
effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability of nuclear weapons.
Environmental Remediation:
Environmental remediation deals with the removal
of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such
as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water. This would mean that once
requested by the government or a land remediation authority, immediate action
should be taken as this can impact negatively on human health and the
environment.
History:
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the Caribbean Crisis , or the Missile Scare,
was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United
States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment
in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba.
The confrontation, elements of which were televised, was the closest the Cold
War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war.
In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, and the presence of
American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev decided to agree to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles in Cuba
to deter future harassment of Cuba. An agreement was reached during a secret
meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962 and construction of a
number of missile launch facilities started later that summer.
The 1962 midterm elections were under way in the United States and the White
House had denied charges that it was ignoring dangerous Soviet missiles 90
miles from Florida. These missile preparations were confirmed when an Air
Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range (SS4) and intermediate-range (R-14) ballistic missile facilities. The United States
established a military blockade to prevent further missiles from entering Cuba. It
announced that they would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to
Cuba and demanded that the weapons already in Cuba be dismantled and
returned to the USSR.
After a long period of tense negotiations, an agreement was reached between
President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets would
dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union,
subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for a U.S. public declaration
and agreement never to invade Cuba again without direct provocation. Secretly,
the United States also agreed that it would dismantle all U.S.-built Jupiter
MRBMs, which were deployed in Turkey and Italy against the Soviet Union but
were not known to the public.
When all offensive missiles and Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers had been withdrawn
from Cuba, the blockade was formally ended on November 20, 1962. The
negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union pointed out the
necessity of a quick, clear, and direct communication line between Washington
and Moscow. As a result, the Moscow–Washington hotline was established. A
series of agreements sharply reduced U.S.–Soviet tensions during the following
years.
Key Issues:
START 1 treaty may be getting terminated due to the arising use of nuclear
weapons in both United States and the Russian Federation. Even though the
treaty has not been called off, it is likely that it will, in the later years. If the
START 1 treaty is recalled the United States and the Russian Federation will have
access to produce as many nuclear warheads as they please. This w,ill become a
threatning issue for both countries as well as the rest of the World.
Major Parties Involved:
There are eight sovereign states that have
successfully detonated nuclear weapons. Five are
considered to be "nuclear-weapon states" (NWS)
under the terms of the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of
acquisition of nuclear weapons these are: the United
States, the Russian Federation (successor state to
the Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, France,
and China.
Timeline:
1940s
August 1942
Manhattan Project
established in US
16 July 1945
US conducts first ever
nuclear test
6 August 1945
US drops atomic
bomb on Hiroshima
9 August 1945
A second bomb is
dropped on Nagasaki
24 January 1946 UN calls for
elimination of atomic
weapons
29 August 1949
Soviet Union tests its
first nuclear bomb
The US sets up the Manhattan Project
to develop the first nuclear weapon. It
eventually employs more than
130,000 people and costs US$2 billion
($25 billion in 2012 dollars).
The US government tests its first
nuclear weapon, code-named
“Trinity”, in New Mexico. Its yield
equals 20,000 tonnes of TNT. The
date of the test marks the beginning
of the nuclear age.
The US detonates a uranium bomb
over the Japanese city of Hiroshima,
killing more than 140,000 people
within months. Many more later die
from radiation-related illnesses.
The US explodes a plutonium bomb
over Nagasaki. An estimated 74,000
people die by the end of 1945. Little
can be done to ease the suffering of
the victims who survive the blast.
In its first resolution, the UN General
Assembly calls for the complete
elimination of nuclear weapons and
sets up a commission to deal with the
problem of the atomic discovery.
The Soviet Union explodes a nuclear
weapon code-named “First Lightning”
in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. It
becomes the second nation to develop
and successfully test a nuclear device.
1950s
3 October 1952
1 November
1952
1 March 1954
UK tests nuclear
weapon in Australia
The UK conducts its first nuclear test
at Montebello Islands off the coast of
Western Australia. It later conducts a
series of tests at Maralinga and Emu
Fields in South Australia.
US tests the first
The US raises the stakes in the
hydrogen bomb
nuclear arms race by detonating the
first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak
Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It is 500
times more powerful than the
Nagasaki bomb.
US conducts massive The US detonates a 17-megaton
“Bravo” test
hydrogen bomb, “Bravo”, at Bikini
Atoll in the Pacific Ocean,
contaminating a Japanese fishing
boat, Lucky Dragon, and residents of
Rongelap and Utirik.
9 July 1955
Russell–Einstein
Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein and
manifesto issued
other leading scientists issue a
manifesto warning of the dangers of
nuclear war and urging all
governments to resolve disputes
peacefully.
17 February
UK disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear
1958
campaign formed
Disarmament in the UK holds its first
meeting. Its iconic emblem becomes
one of the most widely recognized
symbols in the world.
1 December 1959 Nuclear tests banned The Antarctic Treaty opens for
in Antarctica
signature. It establishes that “any
nuclear explosion in Antarctica and
the disposal there of radioactive
waste material shall be prohibited”.
1960s
13 February
1960
France tests its first
nuclear weapon
France explodes its first atomic bomb
in the Sahara desert. It has a yield of
60–70 kilotons. It later moves its
nuclear tests to the South Pacific.
These continue up until 1996.
30 October 1961 Largest ever bomb
The Soviet Union explodes the most
test conducted
powerful bomb ever: a 58-megaton
atmospheric nuclear weapon,
nicknamed the “Tsar Bomba”, over
Novaya Zemlya off northern Russia.
16–29 October
Cuban Missile Crisis A tense stand-off begins when the US
1962
occurs
discovers Soviet missiles in Cuba. The
US blockades Cuba for 13 days. The
crisis brings the US and Soviet Union
to the brink of nuclear war.
5 August 1963
Partial Test Ban
A treaty banning nuclear testing in
Treaty opens for
the atmosphere, outer space and
signature
under water is signed in Moscow,
following large demonstrations in
Europe and America against nuclear
testing.
16 October 1964 China conducts its
China explodes its first atomic bomb
first nuclear test
at the Lop Nor testing site in Sinkiang
Province. In total, China conducts 23
atmospheric tests and 22
underground tests at the site.
14 February
Latin America
A treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons
1967
becomes nuclear-free in Latin America, the Treaty of
1 July 1968
Non-Proliferation
Treaty is signed
Tlatelolco, is signed at Mexico City.
Parties agree not to manufacture, test
or acquire nuclear weapons.
Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty,
non-nuclear-weapon states agree
never to acquire nuclear weapons,
and the nuclear-weapon states make
a legal undertaking to disarm.
1970s
18 May 1974
22 September
1979
India conducts first
nuclear test
India conducts an underground
nuclear test at Pokharan in the
Rajasthen desert, codenamed the
“Smiling Buddha”. The government
falsely claims it is a peaceful nuclear
test.
Nuclear explosion in A nuclear test explosion occurs over
Indian Ocean
the South Indian Ocean off the Cape of
Good Hope. It is thought to have been
conducted by South Africa with the
assistance of Israel.
1980s
12 June 1982
10 July 1985
6 August 1985
10 December
1985
30 September
1986
A million people rally One million people gather in New
for disarmament
York City’s Central Park in support of
the Second United Nations Special
Session on Disarmament. It is the
largest anti-war demonstration in
history.
Rainbow Warrior
The Greenpeace ship Rainbow
ship destroyed
Warrior is destroyed in New Zealand
on its way to the Murorua Atoll to
protest French nuclear tests. New
Zealand later enacts nuclear-free
legislation.
South Pacific
The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone
becomes nuclear-free Treaty is signed at Rarotonga in the
Cook Islands. The treaty prohibits the
manufacturing, stationing or testing
of nuclear weapons within the area.
Anti-nuclear doctors The International Physicians for the
win Nobel
Prevention of Nuclear War receives
the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to
bridge the cold war divide by focusing
on the human costs of nuclear war.
Israel’s nuclear
The Sunday Times publishes
programme revealed information supplied by Israeli
nuclear technician Mordechai
Vanunu, which leads experts to
conclude that Israel may have up to
200 nuclear weapons.
11–12 October
US and Soviet leaders US President Ronald Reagan and
1986
discuss abolition
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
meet at Reykjavik, Iceland, where
they seriously discuss the possibility
of achieving nuclear abolition.
8 December 1987 Intermediate-range The Soviet Union and US sign the
missiles banned
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces
Treaty to eliminate all land-based
missiles held by the two states with
ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles.
1990s
10 July 1991
15 December
1995
11 April 1996
1 June 1996
8 July 1996
24 September
1996
27 November
1996
South Africa joins
Non-Proliferation
Treaty
South Africa accedes to the NonProliferation Treaty. The government
claims to have made six nuclear
weapons and to have dismantled
them all.
Southeast Asia
The nations of Southeast Asia create a
becomes nuclear-free nuclear-weapon-free zone stretching
from Burma in the west, the
Philippines in the east, Laos and
Vietnam in the north, and Indonesia
in the south.
Africa becomes a
Officials from 43 African nations sign
nuclear-free zone
the Treaty of Pelindaba in Egypt
establishing an African nuclearweapon-free zone and pledging not to
build, test, or stockpile nuclear
weapons.
Ukraine becomes a
Ukraine becomes a nuclear-weaponnuclear-free state
free state after transferring the last
inherited Soviet nuclear warhead to
Russia for destruction. Its president
calls on other nations to follow its
path.
World Court says
The International Court of Justice
nuclear weapons
hands down an advisory opinion in
illegal
which it found that the threat or use
of nuclear weapons would generally
be contrary to international law.
Total nuclear test ban The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
is signed
Treaty opens for signatures at the
United Nations. China, France, the UK,
Russia and the US all sign the treaty.
India says it will not sign the treaty.
Belarus removes its Belarus turns its last nuclear missile
last nuclear missile over to Russia for destruction. It joins
May 1998
Ukraine and Kazakhstan as former
Soviet republics that have given up all
their nuclear arms.
India and Pakistan
India conducts three underground
conduct nuclear tests nuclear tests, its first in 24 years. One
is a thermonuclear weapon. Later in
May, Pakistan tests six nuclear
weapons in response to India’s tests.
2000s
9 October 2006
30 April 2007
North Korea conducts The North Korean government
nuclear test
announces that it has successfully
conducted a nuclear test, becoming
the eight country in the world to do
so. It provokes international
condemnation.
ICAN is launched
The International Campaign to
internationally
Abolish Nuclear Weapons is founded
in Australia. It calls for the immediate
start of negotiations on a treaty to
prohibit and eliminate nuclear
weapons.
2010s
4-5 March 2013
Norway hosts first
humanitarian
conference
14 February
2014
Mexico conference
calls for ban
9 December 2014 Austria issues
landmark pledge
The Norwegian government hosts the
first-ever intergovernmental
conference to examine the
humanitarian impact of nuclear
weapons, bringing together diplomats
from 128 states.
The chair of the Second Conference
on the Humanitarian Impact of
Nuclear Weapons, held in Mexico,
concludes that the time has come for
a diplomatic process to ban nuclear
weapons.
As host of the Vienna Conference on
the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear
Weapons, Austria issues a landmark
pledge to stigmatize, prohibit and
eliminate nuclear weapons.
Evaluation of Previous Attempts:
START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty between the United States of
America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the reduction and
limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and
entered into force on 5 December 1994. The treaty barred its signatories from
deploying more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 intercontinental ballistic missiles and bombers. START negotiated the largest and
most complex arms control treaty in history, and its final implementation in late
2001 resulted in the removal of about 80 percent of all strategic nuclear
weapons then in existence. Proposed by United States President Ronald Reagan,
it was renamed START I after negotiations began on the second START treaty.
The START I treaty expired 5 December 2009. On 8 April 2010, the
replacement New START treaty was signed in Prague by U.S. President Barack
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Following ratification by
the U.S. Senate and the Federal Assembly of Russia, it went into force on 26
January 2011.
The START proposal was first announced by United States President Ronald
Reagan in a commencement address at his alma mater, Eureka College on 9 May
1982, and presented by President Reagan in Geneva on 29 June 1982. Reagan
proposed a dramatic reduction in strategic forces in two phases, which he
referred to as SALT III at the time. The first phase would reduce overall warhead
counts on any missile type to 5,000, with an additional limit of 2,500 on ICBMs.
Additionally, a total of 850 ICBMs would be allowed, with a limit of 110 "heavy
throw" missiles like the SS-18, with additional limits on the total "throw weight"
of the missiles as well. The second phase introduced similar limits on heavy
bombers and their warheads, and other strategic systems as well.
Possible Solutions:
The people of the world want to end the danger of suicidal nuclear war - they
want nuclear weapons to be abolished and banned. We can do this! But with tens
of thousands of nuclear weapons still in existence, it will require detailed plans
and gobal cooperation to reach this goal.
We can begin by demanding that all nuclear weapon states renounce the firstuse of nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Russia must end their Cold War nuclear
confrontation and dismantle the tens of thousands of intact nuclear weapons
which remain in their arsenals. They must eliminate high-alert, quick-launch
nuclear weapons and launch-on-warning policies that make accidental nuclear
war possible
We must tell our leaders they must cooperate with all nations of the world to
create a Treaty to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons. Such a treaty, or Nuclear
Weapons Convention (NWC), has already been introduced in the United Nations
and is modeled after similar (existing) treaties that outlaw chemical and
biological weapons and anti-personnel landmines.
We can choose to change the world and prevent war, to spend our money to
address human needs rather than to end human history. You can help make this
happen; many organizations listed on this website are actively working towards
a nuclear-weapons-free world. Join them, educate yourself and take action! It is
not too late to save our planet from nuclear darkness.
Bibliography:
https://fas.org/issues/nuclear-weapons/status-world-nuclear-forces/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_nuclear_weapons_stockpiles_and
_nuclear_tests_by_country
https://ourworldindata.org/nuclear-weapons/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_the_United_Statesü
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_nuclear_command_
and_control