Weapons of Mass Destruction

A weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, biological, chemical, or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans or cause great damage to human-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. However, no treaty or international law contains an authoritative definition. The term was initially applied to nuclear weapons, but in recent years it has been expanded to encompass biological and chemical attacks as well.

Nuclear Weapons

The United States collaborated with Canada and the United Kingdom to develop nuclear weapons during World War II. The Allies feared that scientists in Nazi Germany were also trying to develop nuclear weapons. The Allies dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. Between 129,000 and 226,000 died immediately from the effects of the blasts as well as from heat and radiation, and an unknown number died later from radiation sickness and related cancers. The attack brought an end to World War II. No government has dared to use these bombs in a war since then because leaders recognize that a full-scale nuclear conflict could terminate human civilization.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union also developed nuclear weapons. Altogether, eight countries have successfully detonated nuclear weapons, in this chronological order: United States (1945), Soviet Union (1949), United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), China (1964), India (1974), Pakistan (1998), and North Korea (2006). In 2018, these eight countries had a total of 14,840 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists

Nuclear Warheads, 2018

Israel is suspected of possessing nuclear weapons but has not admitted to it, and is not known with certainty to have conducted a nuclear test. The Federation of American Scientists estimates Israel to have around 80 nuclear warheads.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which went into force in 1970, has been signed by 191 countries. The treaty was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The treaty designated five countries as nuclear-weapon states: United States, Soviet Union (now Russia), United Kingdom, France, and China. The other 186 signatories agreed never to acquire nuclear weapons. In exchange, the five nuclear-weapon states agreed to share their nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and to pursue the ultimate elimination of all nuclear arsenals.

Since the treaty went into effect, the number of warheads possessed by the United States and Russia has declined sharply. The United States had more than 30,000 warheads during the 1960s, and Russia had more than 40,000 during the 1980s. The two countries have agreed through treaties to destroy a large percentage of their warheads, though they have retained roughly the same number and together have 92 percent of the world’s total. Four states that once possessed nuclear weapons agreed to dismantle their arsenals as part of the treaty: South Africa and the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

Changing Number of Nuclear Warheads

Five countries—India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan—never signed the treaty, and North Korea withdrew in 2003. India and Pakistan last tested nuclear weapons in 1998, leaving North Korea as the only country to test nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century

North Korea Nuclear Test

South Koreans watch a large TV monitor showing North Korea testing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, 2017.

Suspect States

A number of states that signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have been suspected of pursuing development of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear and chemical weapons. Countries of particular concern to the United States have been clustered in Southwest Asia & North Africa.

Libya

Libya’s long-time leader Muammar al-Gaddafi (1942-2011, ruler 1969-2011) bought nuclear technology blueprints from Pakistan and tried to enrich imported uranium into weapons-grade material. Libya gave up its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and cooperated with international inspectors.

Iraq

Saddam Hussein (1937-2006, President 1979-2003), employed chemical weapons against Kurds and Iranians during the 1980s. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, Operation Desert Storm, led by the United States, successfully drove Iraq out of Kuwait. The United Nations located and destroyed Iraq’s chemical weapons stockpile.

The United States led a second attack against Iraq in 2003 in order to depose Saddam Hussein. The United States asserted that Iraq still possessed weapons of mass destruction and had close links with terrorist organizations. However, most other countries, as well as ultimately U.S. intelligence agencies, did not agree. The United States then argued instead that Hussein’s quarter-century record of brutality justified replacing him with a democratically elected government. Once Hussein was deposed, Iraq was plunged into a long-running civil war, especially between Shiites and Sunnis as well as the Kurds and the terrorist organization Islamic State.

Iran

Hostility between the United States and Iran dates from 1979, when a revolution forced abdication of Iran’s pro-U.S. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran’s majority Shiite supporters of exiled fundamentalist Shiite Muslim leader Ayatollah Ruholiah Khomeini then proclaimed Iran an Islamic Republic. Militant supporters of the ayatollah seized the U.S. embassy on November 4, 1979, and held 52 Americans hostage until January 20, 1981.

The United States and most other countries have opposed Iran’s aggressive development of a nuclear program (Figures 8-40 and 8-41). Iran claimed that its nuclear program was for civilian purposes, but observers concluded that it was intended to develop weapons. Prolonged negotiations produced an agreement to degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities without resorting to yet another war in the region. President Trump pulled the United States out of the treaty in 2018, claiming that the treaty did not do enough to prevent Iran from continuing to pursue nuclear weapons. However, Iran and other signatories have continued to support the treaty.

Iran’s Nuclear Facilities

Nuclear Production Plant, Arak, Iran

Syria

The Syrian government under the leadership of its long-time President Bashar al-Assad has repeatedly employed chemical weapons in its long-running multisided civil war. The United States, Russia, and other countries have failed to get Syria to eliminate its stockpile.

Pause & Reflect 8.3.3

For what purpose is a nuclear power plant typically used? Why must the nuclear power plants of some countries that signed the nonproliferation treaty be monitored by international inspectors?