IRAN, ISRAEL, NORTH KOREA, WHO'S NEXT?
NUCLEAR TESTS CAUSE NUCLEAR STRESS
DO WE HAVE TO HAVE A REFRESHER COURSE ON HOW CLOSE WE CAME IN OCTOBER 1962 TO BLOWING UP THE WORLD. ALL IT WILL TAKE IS ONE MISSILE FIRED IN ANGER OR IN IGNORANCE WITH A NUCLEAR WARHEAD ON BOARD. DO NOT IGNORE IT, IT WILL NOT JUST GO AWAY, NEGOTIATE NOW AND REPEATEDLY TO RID THE WORLD OF THE THREAT OF ARMAGEDDON. I WAS LIVING IN WASHINGTON D.C. IN OCTOBER 1962, AND BELIEVE ME THE THOUGHT OF ONE MISSTEP BY AMERICA OR RUSSIA AT THAT MOMENT AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL OVER IMPRESSED ME DEEPLY. LET'S NOT GET THAT CLOSE AGAIN.


The number of nations that have pursued nuclear weapons research far surpasses the number with nuclear arms. Below is a look at some of the countries with atomic histories. Not shown are about 30 countries that have nuclear reactors but are thought to have never conducted bomb research.

COUNTRIES WITH WEAPONS
United States
Russia
Britain
France
China
Israel (unacknowledged)
India
Pakistan
North Korea

RECENT NUCLEAR ACTIVITY

North Korea
Announced last week that it had conducted a nuclear test, joining the list of countries with nuclear arms.

Iran
Is suspected of pursuing weapons; faces possible sanctions from the U.N. Security Council for refusing to stop nuclear enrichment.

Egypt
Conducted atomic research for many years; recently announced plans to pursue a nuclear power program.

South Africa
Is the only country to give up weapons it had developed, completing dismantlement in 1991; recently announced plans to begin enriching uranium to meet energy demands.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Brazil, Argentina
Signed a bilateral agreement in 1991 to use nuclear energy peacefully; Brazil briefly raised concerns in 2004 when it denied International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to an enrichment plant.

Sweden
Along with France and Canada, was considered one of the top proliferation threats by the United States in the 1950's.

Libya
Announced in 2003 that it would abandon its nuclear weapons program; centrifuges from Pakistan and highly enriched uranium were airlifted from the country in 2004.

Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan
Returned Weapons inherited after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Indonesia
Is suspected of pursing a weapons program in the 1960's; announced its intent after China's first nuclear test in 1964.

Japan
Had a small, low-priority weapons program before the end of World War II; national policy now prohibits possessing, introducing or manufacturing nuclear weapons.

Comment regarding nuclear threats

Good morning,

As usual enjoy reading the Public Reader with my coffee. The review of the Cuban Crisis sure refreshed my memory about those terrible days. We were living on Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. They brought in trucks to begin evacuating all women and children and take them somewhere up in the mountains. Lynn was two years old and I just couldn't believe that her young life was going to end that day. Bill, of course, was down in the silo with the ICBMs and we had not seen him for several days. What can you do except accept the situation and stay as calm as you could. The big trucks for the evacuation were sitting there like monsters. When the crisis was over, most of we women grabbed a hold of our children and each other and wept and wept. I will never forget it. I think Bill probably got home three or four days later. In retrospect, you realize how precious life was at that time and how young we were. I was 24 years old. Amazing how your demise at that time is such a frightening thing, whereas today, it is accepted and understood as a process of life. Not that I want to die, but that is mostly because it is an unknown area and I have some fear. I feel strongly that similar times are going to happen again. God help us all.

S