Face the facts: Russian nuclear warheads power American homes
http://www.voxxi.com/russian-nuclear-warheads-power-homes/
For nearly 20 years, the United States has
been using weapons-grade uranium from dismantled
Russian nuclear
warheads to fuel domestic nuclear power plants. (Face the facts)
For nearly 20 years, the United States has been using weapons-grade
uranium from dismantled Russian nuclear warheads to fuel domestic
nuclear power plants.
The program, expected to end in 2013, has recycled 450 metric tons of
Russian bomb-grade uranium since 1994, according to the George
Washington University Face the Facts initiative.
It has at times generated as much as 10 percent of the U.S.
electricity supply. There are 104 working nuclear reactors in 31 states;
the United States is one of 30 countries that generate electricity via
nuclear power.
Since the start of the program 450 metric tons of bomb-grade uranium
has been recycled into 13,258 metric tons of low enriched uranium for
American electricity. The amount of uranium recycled equals to 18,000
nuclear warheads eliminated. Yet, this agreement between Russia and the
United States is slated to end in 2013.
At the end of its run, it will have converted an estimated 500 metric tons of weapons-grade uranium.
Russian nuclear warheads: Megatons to Megawatts
Under this program, as much as 10 percent of electricity produced in
the United States has been produced through this “Megatons to Megawatts”
programs, in the years of its operation, according to the U.S. Enrichment Cooperation.
While the amount of uranium converted from the program by the end of
its run in 2013 is estimated to be enough fuel to power the entire
United States for about two years.
The facts sheds further light on the issue of nuclear power production.
Thirty countries, including the United States, have nuclear power
programs. In the United States, 104 reactors across 31 states account
for 19.2 percent of electricity generation.
After the Cold War, nuclear arsenals were slashed. Most recently, new START
(Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) between Russia and the United States
in 2010, aims to reduce the number of strategic nuclear missile
launchers by half until 2021. According to the Treaty disclosure
requirements, there are 3,589 strategic nuclear weapons in U.S.
possession and 2,867 of Russia’s nuclear warheads in possession within
the old Soviet Union.
To see the corresponding infographic click here
Face the facts: Russian nuclear warheads power American homes
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College enrollment steadily increasing despite rising costs
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Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/tag/face-the-facts/#ixzz2AlmroI00
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Treaty
between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on
Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive
Arms Договор между Российской Федерацией и Соединёнными Штатами Америки о мерах по дальнейшему сокращению и ограничению стратегических наступательных вооружений |
|
|---|---|
 Presidents Obama and Medvedev after signing the Prague Treaty. |
|
| Type | Strategic nuclear disarmament |
| Drafted | 19 May–9 November 2009 |
| Signed | 8 April 2010 |
| Location | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Effective | 5 February 2011[1][2] |
| Condition | Ratification of both parties |
| Expiration | 5 February 2021 (Option to extend until 2026) |
| Signatories | Barack Obama Dmitry Medvedev |
| Parties |  United States of America Russian Federation |
| Ratifiers | United States Senate Federal Assembly of Russia |
| Languages | English, Russian |
New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was due to expire in December 2012. In terms of name, it is a follow-up to the START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, the proposed START II treaty, which never entered into force, and the START III treaty, for which negotiations were never concluded.
Under terms of the treaty, the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half. A new inspection and verification regime will be established, replacing the SORT mechanism. It does not limit the number of operationally inactive stockpiled nuclear warheads, that remain in the high thousands in both the Russian and American inventories.[7]
Contents |
Overview
Under the terms of the treaty, the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half. The treaty limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, which is down nearly two-thirds from the original START treaty, as well as 10% lower than the deployed strategic warhead limit of the 2002 Moscow Treaty.[8] The total number of deployed warheads, however, could exceed the 1,550 limit by a few hundred because per bomber only one warhead is counted regardless of how many it actually carries.[8] It will also limit the number of deployed and non-deployed inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers, submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments to 800. The number of deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments is limited to 700.[9] The treaty allows for satellite and remote monitoring, as well as 18 on-site inspections per year to verify limits.[8]| Type | Limit |
|---|---|
| Deployed missiles and bombers | 700 |
| Deployed warheads (RVs and bombers) | 1550 |
| Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers (missile tubes and bombers) | 800 |
Documents made available to the U.S. Senate described[clarification needed] removal from service of at least 30 missile silos, 34 bombers and 56 submarine launch tubes, though missiles removed would not be destroyed and bombers could be converted to conventional use. While four of 24 launchers on each of the 14 ballistic missile nuclear submarines would be removed, none would be retired.[14]
The treaty places no limits on tactical systems, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, even though the F-35 may replace the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit in the manned nuclear armed penetration bomber role.[15]
The treaty does not cover rail-mobile ICBM launchers because neither side currently possesses such systems. ICBMs on such launchers would be covered under the generic launcher limits, but the inspection details for such systems would have to be worked out between the parties if such systems were reintroduced in the future.[16]
Drafting and signature
The New START treaty is the successor to the START I. The START II was signed, but not ratified. The START III negotiating process was not successful.The drafting of the treaty commenced in April 2009 immediately after the meeting between the presidents of the two countries, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, in London.[17] Preliminary talks were already held in Rome on 27 April,[18] although it was originally planned to have them held in the middle of May.[19]
Prolonged talks were conducted by U.S. and Russian delegations, led on the American side by U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller. The Russian delegation was headed by Anatoly Antonov, director of security and disarmament at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[20]
Talks were held on:
- First round: 19–20 May, Moscow[21]
- Second round: 1–3 June, Geneva[22]
- Third round: 22–24 June, Geneva[22]
- Fourth round: 22–24 July, Geneva[22]
- Fifth Round: 5–7 September, Geneva[23]
- Sixth round: 21–28 September, Geneva[24][25]
- Seventh round: 19–30 October, Geneva[26]
- Eighth round: 9 November, Geneva[27]
Presidents Obama and Medvedev announced on 26 March 2010 that they had reached an agreement, and they signed the treaty on 8 April 2010 in Prague.[3]
History
Ratification process
United States
On 13 May, the agreement was submitted by U.S. President Barack Obama for ratification in the U.S. Senate. Ratification required 67 votes in favor (out of 100 Senators). On Tuesday, 16 September 2010 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14–4 in favor of ratifying New START. The measure had support from three Senate Republicans: Richard Lugar of Indiana, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Johnny Isakson of Georgia.[31] Senator John Kerry[32] and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have expressed optimism that a deal on ratification was near.[33]Republicans in the Senate generally deferred to Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a leading conservative on defense issues, who sought a strong commitment to modernize U.S. nuclear forces, and questioned whether there was time for ratification during the lame duck session, calling for an opening of the negotiation record before a vote is held.[34] Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) joined Kyl in expressing skepticism over the timing of ratification,[35] and Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) has expressed opposition.[36]
Obama made New START ratification a priority during the 2010 post-election lame duck session of Congress, and Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), the Democratic Chairman and senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were leading supporters of the treaty.[37][38][39]
On 22 December 2010, the U.S. Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification of the treaty, by a vote of 71 to 26 on the resolution or ratification.[40] Thirteen Republican Senators crossed party lines to vote in favor of the resolution, along with all 56 Democratic senators and both Independent senators.[41]
Obama signed documents completing the U.S. ratification process on 2 February 2011.[42]
Russia
On 28 May 2010, the document was introduced by Medvedev for consideration in the State Duma. On 6 July, the State Duma held parliamentary hearings on the treaty, which was attended by representatives from the Foreign Ministry and General Staff. On 8 July, the Duma Defense Committee and the International Affairs Committee recommended that the State Duma ratify the treaty.However, on 29 October, the chairman of the Duma International Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev, called for the return of the document to committee hearings, noting that the agreement does not restrict the activities of the United States on missile defense, as well as the fact that ballistic missiles with non-nuclear warheads are not covered under the agreement. At the same time, Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov proposed not to rush to the amendment, or vote on the treaty, and to monitor the discussions in the U.S. Senate.
Following ratification by the U.S. Senate, the formal first reading of the treaty was held on 24 December and the State Duma voted its approval. The State Duma approved a second reading of the treaty on 14 January 2011.[43] Three hundred and forty-nine deputies out of 450 voted in favor of ratification.
The third and final reading by the State Duma took place on 25 January 2011 and the ratification resolution was approved by a vote of 350 deputies in favor, 96 against, and one abstention.[44] It was then approved unanimously by the Federation Council on the next day.[5][45]
On 28 January 2011, Medvedev signed the ratification resolution passed by the Federal Assembly, completing the Russian ratification process.[6] The treaty went into force when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged the instruments of ratification at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on 5 February 2011.[1][5][6]
Deadlines
The New START Treaty requires a number of specific actions within periods after Entry into Force (EIF) (5 February 2011)[46]- No Later than (NLT) 5 days after EIF
- Exchange Inspection Airplane Information:
- Lists of the types of airplanes intended to transport inspectors to points of entry will be exchanged.
- NLT 25 days after EIF
- Exchange Lists of Inspectors and Aircrew Members:
- Lists of initial inspectors and aircrew will be exchanged.
- NLT 45 days after EIF
- Exchange databases:
- Databases will provide information on the numbers, locations, and technical characteristics of weapon systems and facilities that are covered under the Treaty.
- NLT 60 days after EIF
- Exhibition: Strategic Offensive Arms:
- If a type, variant, or version of a strategic offensive arm (SOA) that was not exhibited in connection with the START Treaty is declared, then the SOA's features and technical characteristics must be demonstrated and confirmed.
- 60 days after EIF
- Right to Conduct Inspections Begins:
- Parties may begin inspections, 18 on-site inspections per year are
provided in the Treaty. Each Party is allowed ten Type One Inspections
and eight Type Two Inspections.
-
- Type One Inspections focus on deployed and non-deployed SOAs sites. Activities include confirming accuracy of data on SOAs, the number of warheads located on designated deployed ICBMs and SLBMs, and the number of nuclear armaments to be on designated deployed heavy bombers.
- Type Two Inspections focus on sites with non-deployed SOAs. They can involve confirmation of the conversion/elimination of SOAs, and confirming the elimination of facilities.
-
- NLT 120 days after EIF
- Exhibition: Heavy Bombers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base:
- The United States will conduct a one-time exhibition of each type of environmentally-sealed deployed heavy bombers located at the storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
- NLT 180 days after EIF
- Initial Demonstration of Telemetry Playback Equipment:
- Parties will conduct an initial demonstration of recording media and playback equipment for telemetric information, information that originates on a missile during its initial motion and flight.
- NLT 225 days after EIF
- Exchange Updated Databases:
- Parties will exchange updated databases and every six months thereafter for the duration of the Treaty.
- NLT 1 year after EIF
- Exhibition: B-1B Heavy Bomber:
- The United States will conduct a one-time exhibition of a B-1B heavy bomber equipped with non-nuclear armaments to demonstrate it no longer can employ nuclear armaments.
- NLT 3 years after EIF
- Exhibition: Previously Converted Missile Launchers:
- The United States will conduct a one-time exhibition of its four SSGNs, which are equipped with cruise missile launchers and were converted from nuclear ballistic submarines, to confirm that SSGNs cannot launch SLBMs. The United States will also hold an exhibition of the five converted ICBM launcher silos at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, now used as missile defense interceptor launchers. This will confirm that the converted launchers are no longer able to launch ICBMs and determine the features to distinguish converted silo launchers from unconverted ones.
- NLT 7 years after EIF
- Meet Central Treaty Limits:
- Parties are required to meet the limits laid out in the Treaty for deployed strategic warheads, and deployed and non-deployed strategic delivery vehicles and launchers.
- 10 years after EIF
- Treaty Expires:
- Unless Parties agree with an extension for up to five years.
Status of the strategic forces of Russia and the U.S.
Current information on the aggregate numbers and locations of nuclear weapons have not yet been made public under the New START treaty,[67] and on 13 May 2011 three former U.S. officials and two non-proliferation experts signed an open letter to both sides asking that the information be released, in order to promote transparency, reduce mistrust, and support the nuclear arms control process in other states.[68]
| State | Deployed ICBMs, Deployed SLBMs, and Deployed Heavy Bombers | Warheads on Deployed ICBMs, Deployed SLBMs, and Nuclear Warheads Counted for Deployed Heavy Bombers | Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers of ICBMs and SLBMs, and Deployed and Non-deployed Heavy Bombers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russian Federation | 516 | 1,566 | 871 |
| United States of America | 822 | 1,790 | 1,043 |
The data that follows were made public under the prior START treaty.
| State | Deployed ICBMs and Their Associated Launchers, Deployed SLBMs and Their Associated Launchers, and Deployed Heavy Bombers | Warheads Attributed to Deployed ICBMs, Deployed SLBMs, and Deployed Heavy Bombers | Warheads Attributed to Deployed ICBMs and Deployed SLBMs | Throw-weight of Deployed ICBMs and Deployed SLBMs (MT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian Federation[70] | 809 | 3,897 | 3,289 | 2,297.0 |
| United States of America[70] | 1,188 | 5,916 | 4,864 | 1,857.3 |
| Delivery Vehicles | Warheads | |
|---|---|---|
| R-36M UTTH / M2 (SS-18 M4/M5) | 68 | 680 |
| UR-100N UTTH (SS-19) | 72 | 432 |
| RT-2PM Topol mobile (SS-25) | 180 | 180 |
| RT-2PM2 Topol M silo (SS-27) | 50 | 50 |
| RT-2PM2 Topol M mobile (SS-27 M1) | 15 | 15 |
| RS-24 Yars mobile (SS-27 Mod-X-2) | 0 | 0 |
| ICBM (total) | 383 | 1,355 |
| R-29 RL (SS-N-18) | 4/64 | 192 |
| R-29 RM (SS-N-23) | 3/48 | 192 |
| R-29 RMU Sineva (SS-N-23) | 3/48 | 192 |
| RSM-56 Bulava (SS-NX-32) | (2/0) | 0 |
| SLBM (total) | 10/160 | 576 |
| TU-95 MS6 (Bear H6) | 32 | 192 |
| TU-95 MS16 (Bear H16) | 31 | 496 |
| TU-160 (Blackjack) | 14 | 168 |
| Bomber force (total) | 77 | 856 |
| Strategic forces (total) | 620 | 2,787 |
| Delivery Vehicles | Warheads | |
|---|---|---|
| Minuteman III W78/Mk12A | 250 | 350 |
| Minuteman III W87/Mk21 | 200 | 200 |
| ICBM (total) | 450 | 550 |
| UGM-133A Trident II D-5 W76-0/Mk4 | 288 | 718 |
| UGM-133A Trident II D-5 W76-1/Mk4A | 50 | |
| UGM-133A Trident II D-5 W88/Mk5 | 384 | |
| SLBM (total) | 288 | 1,152 |
| B-2 | 20 | na |
| B-52H | 93 | na |
| B61-7 | na | 150 |
| B61-11 | na | |
| B-83 | na | |
| ALCM/W80-1 | na | 350 |
| Bomber force (total) | 113 | 500 |
| Strategic forces (total) |
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