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The following article is part of a library of articles from
The Beyond War/IPPNW BBS in Cambridge, MA.  Comments or 
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The Following fact sheet is provided by the Beyond War Project:

Trident Nuclear Submarine-
 
The Trident nuclear submarine ("Boomer"), the largest submarine 
in the United States Navy packs more explosive power in its 24 
missiles than all the gunpowder exploded in all the wars man has 
fought to date. ("Christian Science Monitor", 10-14-82)

The Trident is 560 feet long; it weighs 18,750 tons.  Each of the 
24 nuclear missiles it carries weighs 65,000 pounds.  Each nuclear 
missile has 8 independently targeted warheads (nuclear bombs), 
which means that one Trident nuclear submarine can hit 192 
targets (8 x 24 = 192).  ("Nuclear Weapons Data Book", Natural 
Resources Defense Council, 1984.)

The firepower in one Trident nuclear submarine can effectively 
destroy Soviet society.  The United States has four Tridents:  
the Ohio, the Michigan, the Florida, the Georgia.  We plan to 
build 15 of them.  (Department of Defense, Selected Acquisition 
Report, 6-30-82).


Typhoon Nuclear Submarine-

The Soviet Typhoon nuclear submarine is the largest in the Soviet 
fleet.  It 561 feet long and weighs 25,000 tons.  Each of its 20 
nuclear missiles carries 8 independently targeted warheads 
(nuclear bombs).  One Typhoon can hit 160 targets (8 x 20 = 160) 
and can effectively destroy American society.  The Soviet Union 
has two Typhoon submarines and is planning to build 6 more by the 
early 1990's.  (Plomar, Norman.  "Guide to the Soviet Navy-3rd 
Edition."  Annapolis, Md. Naval Institute Press, 1983).  ("Soviet 
Military Power, 1984."  Dept. of Defense. Superintendent of 
Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 
20402.)


Nuclear Winter-

The "nuclear winter" phenomenon could be triggered when only 1% 
of the current nuclear weapons arsenal is detonated.  When the 
nuclear bombs explode near the ground they generate a fine dust; 
those that explode in the air create fire and smoke.  The dust 
and the smoke will block out the sunlight for months; 
photosynthesis will stop; temperatures on earth will drop 
drastically; plants, crops, animals and people will die.  During 
this time the lingering radiation will be extremely high, causing 
serious illness and death.

As the nuclear soot and dust settle, deadly solar ultraviolet 
light will pour over the earth now unprotected by the ozone which 
will have been damaged by the nuclear bombs.  Ultraviolet 
sunlight will be extremely dangerous to any form of life that 
remains,  These effects will initially begin in the Northern 
Hemisphere, where it is assumed most of the bombs will be 
detonated.  The environmental effects will find their way to the 
Southern Hemisphere as the breezes blow the dust and soot across 
the equator.  There is no nation on Earth that will not be 
affected by a "nuclear winter".

Only one of the the superpower countries needs to launch its 
nuclear weapons to trigger a "nuclear winter".  (Ehrlich, Paul; 
Sagan, Carl; Kennedy, Donald; Roberts, Walter Orr.  "the Cold and 
the Dark.:  W.W. Norton & co. 1984).
 

Star Wars-

The "Star Wars" program proposes to launch satellite weapons into 
space that would intercept and destroy strategic ballistic 
missiles (nuclear bomb) directed against the United States before 
they reach their targets in this country.

This space-based defense system would trigger a further massive 
build-up of new weapons by each side which would only escalate 
the present danger. (Scientific American, Oct. 1984).

Even if the "Star Wars" system worked as designed, 5% of the 
incoming nuclear missiles would still get through and explode on 
their targets.  Detonation of only 1% of the nuclear weapons will 
create the possibility of a "nuclear winter". (Institute for 
Space and Security Studies, 7720 Mary Cassat Drive, Potomac, MD 
20854).

The "Star Wars" program is in the research stage.  $26 billion 
has been allocated for research and development for a 5 year 
period. (Scientific American, Oct. 1984).

Right now the technology does not exist to build such a system.  
It is estimated that the "Star Wars" defense system would cost in 
excess of $1 trillion. (San Francisco Chronicle, 8-10-84).


Arms Build-Up / Social Cost-

There is a social cost we pay for weapons development.  There are 
social programs that need support and do not receive it.  In the 
face of staggering military costs, we must acknowledge the 
needless death of 40,000 children every day.  UNICEF reported the 
death of 15 million children last year.  Most deaths could have 
been avoided by simple methods at low cost:  5 million died from 
dehydration caused by simple diarrhea.  More than 3 million died 
from pneumonia.  Two million died from measles.  A million and a 
half died from whooping cough.  A million died from tetnus.  And 
for every child who dies many more live on in hunger and ill 
health.  (San Francisco Chronicle, 10-26-83).

It would cost $6 billion to eliminate most infant deaths 
worldwide through the use of vaccines and training of community 
health workers. (San Francisco Chronicle, 10-26-83).  $6 billion 
is the cost of 6 Navy destroyer ships. (U.S. News and World 
Report, 9-17-84).

The government of the world spent $650 billion in 1982 on 
armaments.  Each minute of every day the world spends $1,300,000 
for military purposes.  In that same time, 30 children die for 
lack of food and inexpensive vaccines.  (Sivard, Ruth. World 
Military & Social Expenditures, 1982.  World Priorities, Box 
25140, Washington DC 20007).

Ten years ago, the U.N. World Conference pledged itself to 
eliminate world hunger within a decade - a goal that has not been 
realized.  If 4% of the world's military budget were spent each 
year on agricultural development, by the year 2000, world hunger 
could be eliminated. (World Military and Social Expenditures, 
1982).

Military assistance to the Third World by the developed countries 
has far outpaced economic aid in the last 20 years - $400 billion 
in military aid compared to $25 billion in economic aid. (World 
Military & Social Expenditures, 1983).

For every 100,000 people in the world, there are 556 trained 
soldiers and 85 trained doctors.  (World Military & Social 
Expenditures, 1982).

In 32 countries of the world, governments spend more for military 
purposes than for education and health care combined.  (World 
Military & Social Expenditures, 1982).

More than 50% of all our scientists and engineers are engaged in 
defense related research.  (Simon Ramo, founder TRW; Science 
advisor to President Reagan; in Fortune, 5-16-83).

It was once believed that military spending had positive effects 
on the economy but there is growing evidence that its influence 
is negative.  Military spending does not provide as many jobs for 
the dollar as compared to the needed areas of our economy.  A 
study done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics discovered that the 
expenditure of $1 billion would create the following number of 
jobs in the given sectors of the economy:

     Military Weapons Production           75,700 jobs
     Mass Transit                          92,000 jobs
     Construction                         100,000 jobs
     Health                               138,000 jobs
     Education                            187,300 jobs

(Bureau of Labor Statistics Study.  "Structure of the U.S. 
Economy in 1980 and 1985").

In the 35 years proceeding 1982, the United States spent $2.3 
trillion for military purposes.  THe current proposal for the 
Dept. of Defense budget is $2.6 trillion for the next 8 years. 
(Defense Monitor published by the Center for Defense 
Information).  If we spent $2 million a day every day since the 
year 1 A.D. we would still not have spent $2 trillion.


Warning Time-

THe nuclear powers of the world are like two scorpions in a 
bottle-operating under a strategy known as "mutually assured 
destruction" MAD.  The destruction of one country will mean, in 
the end, the destruction of both the attacked and the attacker.  
To lessen such a blow we began to think about "counterforce" an 
attack made against the weapons of our adversary to hopefully cut 
down on the destructive power of the attack.  This attitude 
inevitably lead to the discussion of "first strike". the idea 
that we must use our weapons first to assure that they are 
launched before destroyed in their launchers by our adversary.

We, therefore, find ourselves sitting on a razor's edge.  If our 
computers detect a launch by an adversary (accurately or 
inaccurately - see False Alarms) we have only 25 minutes (the 
launch and impact time) in the case of land launched missiles - 
Titan II, Pershing II, MX, Minuteman I & II - and only 7 to 10 
minutes (the launch and impact time) in the case of submarine 
launched missiles - Poseidon, Trident I & II - to decide if we 
will launch our missiles or not.  If we hesitate longer our 
missiles will be destroyed by the incoming missiles of our 
adversary.  This strategy is often known as the "use them or lose 
them" strategy.

Nuclear War in the 1980's?   Christopher Chant & Ian Hogg, 1983.  
The Nuclear Almanac-Confronting the Atom in War and Peace.  
Compiled and edited by faculty members at M.I.T., 1984.


False Alarms-

The North American Defense Command reported 151 computer false 
alarms in an 18 month period.  One had American forces on alert 
for a full 6 minutes before the error was discovered. (New York 
Times 11-23-82).

In 1979 and the first half of 1980 there were 3,703 "routine 
missile display conferences", low-level false alerts.  Those 
listed below were sufficiently serious to come within minutes of 
launching a nuclear war:

     October 3, 1979 - A radar designed to detect submarine- 
     launched ballistic missiles picked up a low-orbit rocket body 
     that was close to decay and generated a false launch and 
     impact report.

     November 9, 1979 - The central NORAD computer system 
     indicated a mass attack by incoming missiles as a result of 
     an "inadvertent introduction of simulated data" into the 
     computer.

     March 15, 1980 - A false warning of major nuclear attack was 
     generated by one of four Soviet submarine launched ballistic 
     missiles being tested during troop training exercises in the 
     Kuril Islands of North Japan.

     June 3, 1980 - A false warning of a major nuclear attack 
     was generated by a "bad chip in a communications processor 
     computer."

     June 6, 1980 - The same warning was repeated when the June 3 
     incident was simulated during investigation of the computer 
     problem.

The Nuclear Almanac - Confronting the Atom in War and Peace.  
Compiled and edited by faculty members at M.I.T., 1984.
  

Proliferation-

India, Israel, South Africa, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Argentina and 
Brazil are listed as "emerging nuclear powers" in a recent study 
done by the Carnegie Endowment for Peace.  Because key data with 
regard to the functioning of a nuclear weapon is now determined 
by computer analysis, any of the emerging nuclear powers could 
possess a bomb without having to test it.  San Jose Mercury 10-
31-84.


Faulty Equipment-

Microchips used in the United States weapons arsenal are under 
suspect because of possible insufficient testing by their 
manufacturers.  One modern jet fighter can carry as many as 
10,000 microchips.  Peninsula Times Tribune 12-26-83.


Other Indicators of Urgency-

The respected Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved its "Doomsday 
Clock" to 3 minutes before midnight at the beginning of 1984.  
This clock has been used as an indicator for the last 37 years; 
measuring how close the world is ti a global nuclear 
confrontation.  Only once before in those 37 years has that 
publication seen fit to place the warning hand any closer to 
midnight than in stands today.  That was done in 1953 in response 
to the advent of the Hydrogen bomb.  Bulletin of Atomic 
Scientists, January 1984.

More than 100,000 American Military personnel have some form of 
access to or responsibility for nuclear weapons.  A House 
subcommittee reported that in 1977 - a typical year - 1,219 of 
them had to be removed from such duty because of mental 
disorders, 256 for alcohol abuse and 1,365 for drug abuse.  New 
York Times 11-23-82.
                          Reading List

Beyond War: A New Way of Thinking.  Beyond War Project, Palo Alto, 1984

   This workbook published by the staff of Beyond War can be 
   ordered from the Distribution Dept., 222 High St., Palo Alto 94301

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 5801 South Kenwood Ave., Chicago, 
IL 60637

   Every issue of this magazine has pertinent articles on the 
   latest developments in nuclear weapons and the efforts to 
   control them.

The Cold and the Dark.  Paul Ehrlich, Carl Sagan, Donald Kennedy, 
Walter Orr Roberts.  W.W. Norton & Co., 1984.

   Written by some of the major scientists involved in the 
   research, this book contains the latest detailed description 
   of "nuclear winter".

The Fate of the Earth.  Jonathan Schell. Avon, New York, 1982.

   A beautifully written and comprehensive book on the effects of 
   nuclear war on our planet, and the necessity to save the earth 
   for future generations.

People's Guide to National Defense.  Shelia Tobias, Peter 
Goudinoff, Stephan Leader.  William & March, New York, 1982.

   What kind of guns are they buying for your butter? A 
   beginners' guide to defense, weaponry and military spending.

The Trimtab Factor.  Harold Willens.  William Morrow Co., Inc., 
New York, 1984.

   The business community is asked to get involved in the effort 
   to prevent nuclear war, and especially the effort to improve 
   U.S.-Soviet relations.  This book makes clear the imperative 
   for an end to the nuclear arms race.
 
What About the Russians - And Nuclear War?  Ground Zero. Pocket 
Books, 1982.

   A survey of essential background information on the Soviet 
   Union and U.S.-Soviet relationships.