The series of articles from the January 6 USA Today examines the costs – financial and human – of upgrading U.S. land-based nuclear missile silos, of which there are 450 located in the Midwest. The concept of the nuclear sponge is that this leg of the nuclear triad, which is uniquely vulnerable to a strike because the silos can be seen easily from space, is “useful” because it will “absorb” the initial nuclear strike on the U.S., making the Midwest a sacrifice zone.
Here’s how Bob Peters at the Heritage Foundation rationalizes the nuclear sponge in Part 4 of the series. “I don’t want to see Montana get nuked,” the Heritage Foundation researcher said, tapping his turquoise ring on the table for emphasis. “But if I had a choice between a bunch of cows and a handful of ranching families and Dover, Delaware, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Part One of the series includes visually arresting maps showing the results of a nuclear strike on missile silos given differing seasons and wind patterns. The immediate fallout covers small ranching towns and major cities like Denver and Chicago alike. The longer-term effects of fallout clouds and nuclear winter are also covered in the article.
At the heart of the series is the debate over the new Sentinel missile. As Tri-Valley CAREs’ members and friends know, Livermore Lab plays a special role in these questions. Livermore is the Lead Lab in developing a novel, wholly new warhead (the W87-1) that will ride atop the Sentinel missiles. And, it is this new Livermore warhead that is the main driver for the government’s plan to expand plutonium pit (bomb core) production, with all of its associated costs and risks.
While the USA Today series focuses on the missiles and not the warheads that make the missiles
nuclear, it has useful information as well as dramatic visuals. Here is the link.
Part One: USA TODAY’s fallout maps show what could happen if America’s missile silos were attacked.
At the end of Part One, you will find the USA Today’s internal live links to the other 4 parts of
the series for a deeper dive. Enjoy…
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