INTRO TO IR PRESENTATION

GROUP MEMBERS

WEAPONS OF MASS

DESTRUCTION

INTRODUCTIONoThe term “weapon of mass destruction” (WMD) is used

to characterize a variety of weapons that share two key features:

1. Their potential for large-scale destruction. 2. Indiscriminate nature of their effects.

oThere are three major types of WMD: nuclear weapons, chemical warfare agents, and biological warfare agents.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

PRESENTED BY

NUCLEAR WEAPONSoNuclear weapon, is a device designed to release

energy in an explosive manner as a result of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or a combination of the two processes.oWords kiloton (1,000 tons) and megaton (1,000,000

tons) are used to describe their blast energy.

oDelivery vehicles for nuclear weapons are different types of rocket or jet-propelled missiles.

NUCLEAR WEAPON STATESoThere are nine nuclear-weapon

states (NWS) which include China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States ,India, Israel, and Pakistan.

oNine countries together possess more than 15,000 nuclear weapons

CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES oNuclear weapons convention is a

proposed multilateral treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons. This may include the possession, development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as provide for their elimination. oPartial Test Ban Treaty (1963) restricted all nuclear

testing to underground nuclear testing, to prevent contamination from nuclear fallout

oNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) attempted to place restrictions on the types of activities signatories could participate in, with the goal of allowing the transference of non-military nuclear technology to member countries without fear of proliferation.

oIn 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established under the mandate of the United Nations to encourage development of peaceful applications for nuclear technology, provide international safeguards against its misuse.

oIn 1996, many nations signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all testing of nuclear weapons.

oMany nations have been declared Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones, areas where nuclear weapons production and deployment are prohibited, through the use of treaties.

NUCLEAR WARFAREoNuclear warfare is a military

conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is used to inflict damage on the enemy. oCompared to conventional warfare, nuclear

warfare can be more destructive in range and extent of damage in a short interval.

ATOMIC BOMBNGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

oDuring the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted atomic raids on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

oOn August 6, 1945, a uranium gun-type device (code name "Little Boy") was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, a plutonium implosion-type device (code name "Fat Man") was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

DEATH TOLL :129,000 

NUCLEAR MISHAPSGOLDSBORO B-52 CRASH: On January 24, 1961 an American B-52 carrying two Mark 39 nuclear weapons crashed. ◦The plane broke apart as it spiralled to the ground ◦The nuclear weapons were separated from the craft.◦The wreckage of the plane and its two nuclear warheads landed in an area of tobacco and cotton farmland near Goldsboro, North Carolina. ◦ Three crewmen died

BANEBERRY BLAST

The Nevada Test Site is a U.S. site for the testing of nuclear devices. 

One of the most notable nuclear accidents at the Nevada Nuclear Site was the Baneberry blast which occurred on December 18, 1970, during the Operation Emery series of nuclear tests.

After the explosion, the bombs energy cracked the soil of the ground in an unexpected way. 

This caused a plume of hot gases and radioactive dust to be released.

SOVIET SUBMARINE K-219

the K-219 submarine was a ballistic missile sub used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

On October 3, 1986, seal in one of the missile hatch covers failed. 

Seawater leaked into the missile tube and reacted with residue from the missile’s liquid fuel, producing nitric acid.

CASTLE BRAVO

Castle Bravo was the code name given to the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb.

When the weapon was ignited, it formed a fireball almost four and a half miles (roughly 7 km) across the sky within a second. 

This led to the most significant accidental radiological contamination ever .

◦FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR DISASTER

An accident at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, initiated primarily by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.

 THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE TSUNAMI PRODUCED :

i.Equipment failuresii Three nuclear meltdowns 

◦It is one of the largest nuclear disaster.

BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS(BW)◦Often termed as bio weapons, biological threat agents or bio agents◦Biological weapons (BW) introduce a bacteria or virus into an

environment for hostile purposes that are not prepared to defend it from the intruder. As a result, this agent can become very effective at killing plants, livestock, pets, and humans◦Biological Weapons Include :◦Pathogenic viruses◦Bacteria, ◦Biological toxins

COUNTRIES POSSESSING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

◦The countries possessing Biological Weapons include China, Cuba, Egypt, India ,Iraq, Iran, Israel, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, and United States.

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

◦Deliberate spreading of disease by the use of microbial forms of life to diminish the capabilities, disrupt the organization, and terrorize the noncombatant population of an adversary. ◦This form of warfare has been used

throughout history and has gained renewed interest

DELIVERY OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENTSBacteria : cause diseases

such as anthrax, brucellosis, tularemia, and

plagueRickettsiae : Typhus and

Q fever

Virus small pox,Lassa

Fungi rice blast, cereal rust, wheat smut, and

potato blight

Toxins ricin, enterotoxin B (SEB), botulinum toxin

EFFORTS TO BAN BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

◦Biological Weapons Convections: ◦Using biological and chemical weapons was condemned by international

declarations and treaties notably by the :1 .1907 Hague Convention (IV) respecting the laws and customs of war on land.2.Geneva Protocol(1925) banned the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other

gases, , as well as the use of bacteriological methods of warfare. Include not only bacteria, but also other biological agents, such as viruses or

rickettsiae which were unknown at the time the Geneva Protocol was signed.

3.BIOLOGICAL AND TOXIN WEAPONS CONVENTION (BWC):

It was opened for signature on 10 April 1972 entered into force on 26 March 1975.  

◦The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), formally known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, was the first multilateral disarmament treaty

◦The BWC currently has :◦163 states parties

◦110 signatories

EXPORT CONTROLS AND BIOLOGICAL THREAT REDUCTION

◦The Australia Group, created in 1985, harmonizes export controls in participating states to minimize, if not eliminate, sales to customers likely to misuse BW-related materials◦On 28 April 2004, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted UN

Security Council Resolution 1540 (UNSCR 1540).◦The Resolution 1540 helped to fill some of the gaps in biological

weapons nonproliferation

FAMOUS CASES WHERE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS HAVE BEEN USED

Bioterrorism and Bio-warfare Today: ◦A number of countries have continued offensive biological weapons

research and use.PAST EVENTS :◦During World War I, Germany developed a biological warfare program

based on the bacterium Bacillus anthraces and a strain of Pseudomonas, which causes glanders disease in cattle.

◦Japan, during 1932-1945 conducted extensive biological weapon research at Unit 731 in occupied Manchuria, China. ◦Used variety of pathogens, including meningitis, anthrax, black plague ◦Death Toll :◦2,60,000

◦World War II, prisoners in German Nazi concentration camps were infected with pathogens, such as Hepatitis A and two types of Rickettsiae bacteria.

◦A large reservoir in Bohemia was poisoned with sewage by the German army in 1945.

◦ In 1985, Iraq began an offensive biological weapons program.

◦During Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of allied forces faced the threat of biological agents.

◦Following the Persian Gulf War, Iraq disclosed that it had bombs, 122-mm rockets, and artillery shells armed with botulinum toxin, anthrax, and aflatoxin.

◦The Red Indian in North America were given the small pox infected blankets,◦In 2001, anthrax was delivered by mail to U.S. media and government offices.

Leading to 22 cases and 5 deaths. ◦During Mar 2012 – Apr 2013 terrorist’s organizations in Afghanistan used rat

poison as a biological warfare agent infecting police and other civilians causing 53 deaths and 40 injuries

IMPACT OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS◦Use of biological warfare agents in a terrorism-related issue or in a warfare situation is

real and looming before the states.◦The bioterrorist events are difficult to predict and prevent;◦ In the case of a release, accurate, easy deployable detection systems are needed to

minimize the damage and to prevent further spread of these agents. ◦They may be more potent than the most lethal chemical warfare agents ◦Provide a broader area of coverage than any other weapons system◦BW when compared to the cost of a nuclear weapons program, are extremely cheap.

This makes BIO WEAPONS – THE POOR MAN’S NUCLEAR BOMB◦

HIGH FREQUENCY ACTIVE AURORAL RESEARCH PROGRAM (HAARP)