The United States nuclear weapons complex is complicated and very large. Because of this, there are certain government agencies that help to regulate, or control, the nuclear weapons. Those agencies that have a role regarding the nation’s nuclear weapons are the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Commerce, Homeland Security, Department of State (DOS), and most importantly, the Department of Defense (DOD) (whitehouse.gov).
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is the principle U.S. Government agency responsible for the construction, design, and maintenance of U.S. nuclear weapons. The Department of Energy, which was established in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter as a response to an energy
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The Department of Defense is mainly responsible for overseeing the nation’s armed forces, including those military units that are specifically trained to operate nuclear weapons ad their specific delivery vehicles, which include missiles, bombers, and submarines that can deliver the weapons to their intended target. Residing within the Department of Defense are a series of unified commands, more specifically, the U.S. Strategic Command, which is based in Nebraska (dosfan.lib.uic.edu). This command is specifically responsible for coordinating the use of each branch of the armed forces (the Navy, Marines, Army, and Air Force) nuclear weaponry. During the Cold War, the U.S. developed the Triad, or the nuclear forces unique to each branch of the military. The Triad consists of the Air Force’s land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the Navy’s ballistic missile submarines (boomers, or SSBNs for short) as well as the manned bombers, which include the B-1, B-52, and B-2s) (stratcom.mil). The theory behind the creation the of the Triad was upon the notion of synergy wherein the difficulties inherent in planning an attack on each branch of the nuclear triad ensured their security against any type o coordinated attack. In other words, an adversary – the former Soviet Union – would not be able to cripple the U.S. …show more content…
companies seeking to ship goods to certain foreign destinations that have legitimate commercial applications, but which also have military uses. Many such items involve nuclear weapons technologies. Certain types of metals and electronic devices that can be used for seemingly benign purposes can also be used in the manufacture of nuclear warheads and ballistic and cruise missiles used to deliver those warheads to their targets (nrdc.org). It is the responsibility of the Commerce Department to examine all applications submitted by American companies to export sensitive items and either accept or reject those applications. It does not do this alone, as the Departments of Energy, Defense and State all play a role in that process as well, but Commerce is the lead agency and final arbiter
The dropping of the atomic bomb was the first of many nuclear projects. The first project was called the Manhattan project. Three bombs were created, one was a test, and the two others were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities in Japan. These bombs created mass destruction for the two cities; buildings were obliterated, fires erupted, and radiation spread for miles. After foreign countries saw what the United States was capable of, countries all around the world started to develop their own nuclear weapons, creating a surplus of weapons of mass destruction. “Today, eight countries in the world have nuclear arsenals (weapon supplies). The United States and Russia (formerly part of the Soviet Union) have most of the world’s nuclear weapons. Other countries with nuclear arms include China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom” (Kroenig). Following World War Two, the Soviet Union and the United States were leaders of nuclear weapons. This period was called the Cold War. Forty-five years of potential nuclear destruction loomed over the Soviets and Americans. It wasn’t until after the Cold War that diplomats created the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, or NPT for short, recognizes the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom as nuclear weapon states. Nearly every country in the world is a member of the treaty, even if they do not possess nuclear weapons, by law they state that they are a nonnuclear
In the aftermath of World War II, tensions heightened between the two dominant powers: America and the USSR. The differences between the ideologies of the communist USSR and the capitalist United States led to a rapid deterioration in relations. The era between 1945, which marked the end of World War II, to 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved, became known as the Cold War due to the fact that despite the lack of large scale conflict, both sides still feared a nuclear holocaust. Both the United States and the Soviet Union followed the military strategy of mutually assured destruction (MAD), meaning that neither side was willing to risk first attack lest the other nation retaliate massively . The fundamental tenet behind MAD that enabled it to serve as an effective deterrent was the idea of secondary strike capability. In essence, it was the ability of a nation to launch a counterattack and thereby ensure mutual destruction. Submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) fulfilled this criteria admirably due to their ability to stay submerged for extended periods of time, the difficulty involved with locating a submarine, and their invulnerability to nuclear missile attacks when submerged. As a result, the United States attempted to corner this leg of the nuclear triad.
The components of DHS are Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration, and the U.S. Customs Service and the last federal agency the Secret Service (Oliver, W. M., Marion, N. E., & Hill, J. B. 2015). These components will help secure the protection of the people of the United States from terrorist attacks and any other disasters such as the preparation for a nuclear attack that possible deals with chemical, radiologist, and biologist or any other man-made material. The Department of Homeland goal is to also focus more on how to help the people to prepare for emergency preparedness and how to properly response if any act occurs and to also know how to properly recover
Since the invention of nuclear weapons, they have presented the world with a significant danger, one that was shown in reality during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, nuclear weapons have not only served in combat, but they have also played a role in keeping the world peaceful by the concept of deterrence. The usage of nuclear weapons would lead to mutual destruction and during the Cold War, nuclear weapons were necessary to maintain international security, as a means of deterrence. However, by the end of the Cold War, reliance on nuclear weapons for maintaining peace became increasingly difficult and less effective (Shultz, et. al, 2007). The development of technology has also provided increasing opportunities for states
Ronald Reagan created a Strategic Defense Initiative that was intended to defend the United States from any nuclear weapon missile threat from other countries. This was proposed mainly to protect the U.S. from its extent threat, which was the Soviet Union at the time. Reagan wrote down in his diary addressing his Evil Empire Speech, “I did the bulk of the speech on why our arms build up was necessary and then finished with a call to the Science community to join me in research starting now to develop a defensive weapon that
The tasks are to prevent terrorist attacks, prevent the unauthorized acquisition or use of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) materials and capabilities, and manage risks to critical infrastructure, key leadership, and events ((Bullock, et al. 2013, p. 10). There are several agencies that are involved in these tasks. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis Mission plays a huge part in preventing terrorist attacks by providing key information to all parts of DHS which is critical to the success of combating terrorism in the US. The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office is the leading agency in combating and managing the CBRN threat to our nation. The task of managing risks to critical infrastructure, key leadership, and events falls on several entities and could be broken down into multiple tasks. In fact, the critical infrastructure aspect of HLS has 16 departments (DHS Infrastructure Sectors, 2017, para.1). The protection of key leaders would fall of course to the Secret
After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers and subsequently a period of tension and hostility arose, known as the Cold War. During this time, a new possibility of complete nuclear destruction that would claim the lives of many emerged, therefore “the easing or relaxing of tensions†on both sides was needed, this period would be known as detente. Both countries had been guaranteed mutually assured destruction as they had both managed to stay ahead in the development of nuclear arsenals. By the late 1960s the Soviets had surpassed the United States in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) by 1,300 to 1,054. Although the U.S was still
The Department of Defense oversees all of the nation’s armed forces and this includes those that are specially trained to handle nuclear devices. During the height of the Cold War the leaders of the Department of Defense, constructed a plan to be able to fend off any nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. They came up with what is known as the “Triad.” This Triad is a combination of the Navy’s ballistic missile submarines, the
From the moment we wake up in the morning and turn our alarm clock off, to the moment we turn the lights off and fall asleep, we are using energy. Throughout the day an average person will use a cell phone, a computer, a television, an oven or microwave, and many will ride in a car or bus: all of this takes energy. Energy is even being used while we sleep to power the same alarm clock that wakes us up each morning. Individuals in first world countries are large consumers of energy, but where does it all come from? What powers most of our modern day conveniences? The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that as much as eighty-two percent of the United State’s energy demand is met by using fossil fuels (Fossil Fuels), and in 2012, fossil fuels made up eighty-seven percent of the energy consumed worldwide (Gonzalez & Lucky, 2013). What are fossil fuels then?
From the moment we wake up in the morning and turn our alarm clock off, to the moment we turn the lights off and fall asleep, we are using energy. Throughout the day an average person will use a cell phone, a computer, a television, an oven or microwave, and many will ride in a car or bus: all of this takes energy. Energy is even being used while we sleep to power the same alarm clock that wakes us up each morning. Individuals in first world countries are large consumers of energy, but where does it all come from? What powers most of our modern day conveniences? The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that as much as eighty-two percent of the United State’s energy demand is met by using fossil fuels (Fossil Fuels), and in 2012, fossil fuels made up eighty-seven percent of the energy consumed worldwide (Gonzalez & Lucky, 2013). What are fossil fuels then?
The Department of Energy is an agency that is a cabinet level. The agency has energy and national security related missions which are very important. Since the World War two and the Manhattan Project Department of Energy is in the system. It was a secret operation that launched effort to improve and store nuclear weapons (allgov, n.d). During the Second World War, after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942 Roosevelt approves to produce atomic bomb. President Carter establishes the Department of Energy in 1977(energy, n.d). The Department of Energy originates from the executive branch (archives, n.d). They continue to their strategies, extending from nuclear power to alternative energy and fossil fuels. Currently under
The first use of nuclear weaponry in warfare occurred on the morning of August 6, 1945 when the United States dropped the atomic bomb known as “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. The result was devastating, demonstrating the true power of nuclear warfare. Since the incident, the world has been left fearing the possible calamity of another nuclear war. Joseph Siracusa’s Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction explains aspects of nuclear weaponry from simply what a nuclear weapon is, to the growing fear from nuclear warfare advancements in an age of terrorism. The book furthered my education on nuclear weapons and the effect they place on society, physically and mentally.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has been a United States discernment org since 1952 when President Truman formally named it; in spite of the fact that the office has been around since World War I translating code correspondences. It is presently one of the biggest United States brainpower associations on the planet. It works under the sway of the Department of Defense. The NSA's primary objectives are screening , gathering, deciphering, translating and examining data and information of outside intelligences around the globe. This incorporates the associated people with terrorism in the United States.
The North Korean government continues to financially fund the research and testing of nuclear and ballistic missiles. Little information is known about the North Korean nuclear program and has been made available to foreign nations due to the secrecy and isolation of international affairs. The threat of a nuclear strike from North Korea has become an increasingly serious matter for many nations including the U.S. and its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea. Currently, there are only nine nations known by intelligent analysis that possesses the resources to manufacture nuclear weapons which do include the U.S. However, North Korea is the only nation in the 21st century to conduct a nuclear missile test that has been reported by North Korean
Today the United States of America still possess approximately 1,300 tactical nuclear weapons, including about 480 bombs deployed on NATO military bases deployed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In response Russia is estimated to possess at least 3,000 of these generally smaller, portable, but still devastating weapons. It only takes a fifteen-minute alert and the decision by one human being at the touch of the button in the U.S. to deploy hundreds of nuclear warheads. Surely with still such a large number of nuclear weapons still easily accessible, they cannot be strategically obsolete. Robert McNamara says, “It was luck that prevented nuclear war”. He continues: “At the end we lucked out. It was luck that prevented nuclear war.... Rational individuals came that close to total destruction of their societies. And that danger exists today. The major lesson of the Cuban missile crisis is this: the indefinite combination of human fallibility and nuclear weapons will destroy nations”. In the end maybe it was deterrence theory that won out, but from McNamara’s perspective this was not the case. McNamara mentioned in his Fog of War Interview that if it hadn’t have been for John F