AOL Defense – Janne Nolan Weighs in: U.S. Dismantles Biggest U.S. Nukes Ever Built
Source: AOL Defense, 10/26/2011
ASP Director of Nuclear Security Programs Dr. Janne Nolan is quoted.
Excerpt:
Butterworth was referring to an August 2009 speech in which President Obama committed the United States “to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” He questioned the rationale for pursuing such a goal. “And about the larger point–do we want to get rid of nuclear weapons? The reason the U.S. built built them to begin with, as General L. Welch (USAF-ret.) puts it, is because we didn’t want Hitler to be the only one who had them. So we probably don’t want to get rid of nuclear weapons until we’re sure there is no Hitler around with one hidden in a cave. You might also note that there was no war between/among the major powers for the past 60 years, and wonder whether nuclear weapons played any role in that record,” Butterworth said.
Another highly experienced nuclear expert, Janne Nolan director of nuclear security programs at the American Security Project, expressed similar skepticism of the announcement. “This is perhaps a milestone the way it would have been to conduct a burial ceremony for dinosaur remains — marking the end of a historical moment from when the earth was still cooling,” she wrote in an email.
The B-53 was introduced into the nuclear arsenal in 1962. It was the highest-yield nuclear bomb the United States ever produced. Weighing about 10,000-pounds and roughly the size of a small truck, the B53 bomb remained the highest-yield U.S. nuke until its retirement in 1997. A team of experts dismantled the bombs near Amarillo, Texas at the Pantex Plant.
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