8.4 Loose Nukes

WHO? The Federal Government of the United States.

WHAT? Seeks to keep its citizens safe from attack by “loose nukes”.

WHEN? "Loose Nukes” have been a particular concern since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

WHERE? Although Eastern Europe seems a likely source, lots of uranium is also missing in the US.

WHY? To safeguard the nation from domestic catastrophic nuclear incidents.

United States Code, Title 18 Section 2332a makes it illegal for anyone in the US to acquire, possess, fabricate, or deploy a nuclear weapon. The advent of nuclear weapons in July 1945 was as much a game-changer as 9/11. For the first time, humans possessed the means by which to destroy all civilization. The culmination of the $2 billion Manhattan Project, that’s $22 billion in today’s dollars, were two tactical atomic bombs, unofficially designated Fat Man and Little Boy. Little Boy was made from Uranium-235, and Fat Man made from Plutonium-239. Uranium-235 is relatively rare, but easy to make fission. Plutonium is more available, but more difficult to make fission. Fission is the process of splitting a large atom into smaller atoms. When an atom splits, it releases energy. It also releases a free neutron, which may collide with another atom causing it to also split. Fission is a natural process. But if you collect enough Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239, then you can create a runaway chain reaction, where the number of atoms splitting other atoms rapidly increases. A rapid fission reaction releasing a tremendous amount of energy is what creates an atomic blast. Because Little Boy used Uranium-235, it was a simple design using two pieces of uranium. When one was shot into the other, they created critical mass that resulted in a runaway fission reaction. Because Fat Man used Plutonium-239, it was a more complex design using a plutonium core surrounded by high explosives. The explosives were designed in such a manner that when they detonated, they created a shockwave that compressed the plutonium core to critical mass. It was a plutonium bomb that was first detonated at Trinity site in New Mexico, July 16, 1945. When Japan showed no signs of surrender, President Truman authorized use of the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima Japan. When Japan still refused to surrender, Fat Man was dropped three days later on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered August 15th. Little Boy exploded with the force of 13,000 tons of TNT. The blast and ensuing fires devastated 4.7 square miles and killed 70,000 Japanese. Another 70,000 later died from wounds and radiation. The US emerged from World War II as the world’s only nuclear power. The US monopoly only lasted until August 1949 when the Soviet Union detonated their first atomic bomb. Over the next 42 years of the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union built massive nuclear stockpiles. After the Soviet Union ended in December 1991, the US worked with its former adversary under the Nunn-Lugar Act to prevent nuclear weapons or their agents from falling into hostile hands. Despite these efforts, some materials got out. Highly-enriched uranium was seized by police outside in Ruse, Bulgaria, May 1999, Paris, France, July 2001, and Chisinau, Moldova, August 2010. Another load of uranium was seized in Moldova in 2016; it was the fourth such arrest in four years. US officials whose job it is to track down illicit shipments of nuclear materials tacitly concede that sufficient quantities have been lost to build a crude Little Boy type bomb. And the uranium need not come from Russia. A 2009 report by the Department of Energy Inspector General concluded that 45 pounds of highly-enriched uranium was missing from US stockpiles. The 2005 National Planning Scenarios postulate that a 10-kiloton improvised nuclear device detonated in a major city could incinerate everything within a half mile, knock out all electronics within three miles, cause radiation sickness up to twelve miles, and irradiate the countryside for 150 miles. The estimated death toll, though not listed, could be similar to Hiroshima, more than 100,000. An improvised nuclear device might be no smaller than a suitcase, or no bigger than a van. Remember the W54 backpack nuke developed by the Army in the 1960s? If a nuclear bomb was found before it detonated, then it would likely become a job for the NEST. The Nuclear Emergency Support Team from the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration has the capability to disarm and dispose of an improvised nuclear device. The NEST would work with the local Incident Command to eliminate the immediate threat.