Nuclear War

Column #401 May 5, 2023

Donald Trump spent considerable time during the Tucker Carlson interview on April 11, 2023, discussing the threat and consequences of a nuclear war. His concern was caused by the “proxy” war the United States is fighting with Russia where nuclear war is discussed almost daily by both sides. Additionally, there have been many instances where Biden has made threatening nuclear-strike remarks to other countries which are also concerning because Biden is senile and his long history of foreign policy decisions is abhorrent.^{1 2}

On October 11, 2023, Biden used an exclusive CNN interview to send a careful, yet clear and chilling message to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the disastrous consequences of using nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. Last November 4, 2022, the day after North Korea launched an unprecedented barrage of missiles, including one that could theoretically reach the U.S. mainland, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said “The United States remains fully committed to the defense of (South Korea). Our extended deterrence commitment is firm. And it includes a full range of our nuclear and conventional and missile defense capabilities.” Then again on April 25, 2023 President Biden warned that a nuclear attack from North Korea against South Korea or other U.S. allies would be met with an overwhelming response.³

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been responding to Biden in kind. In addition to many informal comments over many months, on February 21, 2023 he made a formal statement regarding nuclear arms. He warned the West that Russia cannot be defeated and that he has suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty, announced that new strategic systems had been put on combat duty, and threatened to resume nuclear tests if U.S. does.⁴

Recently we’ve learned that the U.S. is wiring Ukraine with radiation sensors to detect nuclear blasts. These sensors are supposed to be able to detect bursts of radiation from a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb and can even confirm the identity of the attacker! Now, if Ukraine wants to escalate aid from the U.S. and other NATO allies, all it has to do is set off a dirty bomb and blame it on Russia. Not only that, but the British government is providing Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium—a byproduct of the uranium-enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons.^{5 6}

The United States continues to paint a robust position for Ukraine while stating that Russia has suffered huge loses, its generals are incompetent, and it won’t be able to weather the storm. Therefore, the case is being made that it won’t be long before a panicky Russia resorts to nuclear weapons. Yet in reality the conditions of the combatants are just the opposite says M.K. Bhadrakumar for the “Indian Punchline.” He says that “it appears that there is a significant stream of dissenting opinion within the US security and defense establishment, which estimates that President Biden has taken the US on a disastrous policy trajectory that is fated to have a calamitous outcome—a humiliating defeat in Ukraine that may damage the NATO alliance, weaken the transatlantic system and erode the US’s credibility as a global power.”⁷

So, if Biden believes that Russia must be defeated rather than there be a negotiated settlement with a resumption of trade between East and West, he may step up the pressure to dethrone Putin which may significantly increase the odds of a nuclear confrontation.

Maybe this is why there have been two separate drone attacks on the Kremlin in the past two weeks. For certain Putin will respond and already Russian MP Mikhail Sheremet reportedly said “It’s time to launch a missile attack on Zelensky's residence.”⁸

In addition, other strikes inside Russian territory, including a drone attack on a Russian oil refinery two days ago, has Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that Kyiv could not carry them out without Washington’s involvement. "Attempts to disown this—both in Kyiv and in Washington—are, of course, absolutely ridiculous," the Kremlin spokesman said, Russian news agency TASS reported. "We know very well that decisions on such actions, on such terrorist attacks, are not made in Kyiv. Namely, in Washington.”^{9 10}

With our government’s continual propaganda drum beats about the war and discussions of Armageddon, I’m reminded of George Orwell’s book “1984.” In his novel the government talks of war with a far off nation on a daily basis. Everyone stays on edge because they live in continuous fear. It’s a form of government control over the citizens not unlike what was used during the Covid pandemic and what we’re experiencing with our country’s global warming doomsday rhetoric, Russophobia, and threats to democracy.

Trivializing the risk of nuclear war is insane. Yes, mankind will survive a nuclear war, but the aftermath will be nothing similar to all the previous wars known by mankind. The destruction will be beyond overwhelming. The entire planet will be impacted and billions of people will die. The aftermath won’t be just a period of rebuilding. It will literally be civilization starting all over again from scratch!

When conventional bombs explode they instantly create a lot of hot gas that expands as a shock wave outward. The heat (4,500 °F) in the shock wave is external to nearby objects and their survivability is partly a question of size, melting point, and strength.

A nuclear explosion differs because its heat radiates outward by photons, neutrons, and other particles. Because the neutron flux is so high in a nuclear explosion, a tremendous amount heat is transferred to any object in close vicinity such as air, liquids, and solids. This means nearby objects will be completely and instantly heated as the neutron flux diffuses through it. The temperature of the fission reaction from the “Little Boy” that exploded in Hiroshima was about 300,000 Kelvins (539,540̊ F) at the center and about 6,000 Kelvins (10,340̊ F) on the ground below.¹¹

There’s more to a nuclear explosion than just generating heat that’s equivalent to temperatures of the sun. There’s also a shock wave. Initially the shock wave travels out at 100 times faster than the speed of sound before slowing down. At first the wave actually compresses the air in front of it causing it to rise to temperatures to 54,032̊ F. After the pressure stabilizes at the point of detonation, the shock wave returns to fill the vacuum. The third damaging aspect of the nuclear blast is that it produces nuclear radiation which has immediate and also very long-term negative impacts on life.

For an object to survive in a nuclear blast zone, it must have a combination of attributes; extremely small neutron cross section, high heat capacity, and high melting point. There are no known materials with a sufficient combination of these properties. I’ve found two websites that calculate the destruction and number of deaths from a nuclear bomb strike. The most likely targets will be military installations, large cities, major ports, and the larger commercial airports. You can pick your targets and the bomb and the programs will provide the results.^{12 13}

Like all bombs, immediate survivability depends on various factors such as distance from the blast, the terrain, and the altitude of the detonation. But following a major nuclear confrontation the ramifications last much longer than the initial blasts. In a study published in the journal Nature Food, researchers led by Lili Xia and Alan Robock at Rutgers University modeled the climatic impacts of a nuclear war in regards to global food production.¹⁴

A full-scale nuclear war between the US and Russia could inject 150 million tons of soot into the atmosphere from the massive fires ignited by the explosions. That soot would spread quickly around the world blocking incoming sunlight and lead to dramatic global cooling. In the cold and dark, crops would wither and die, as would the livestock that depend on them. The Rutger University scientists projected that global calorie production could drop by as much as 90 percent, leaving an estimated five billion people dead from famine in what is now known as nuclear winter.^{15 16}

Nine different nations around the world have successfully detonated nuclear weapons. Interestingly, China, Russia, and the US have nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles that can carry up to 10 independent nuclear warheads able to strike different targets. In other words, one ICBM can hit ten different cities each with possibly a separate 500-kiloton bomb. A bomb that size would be more than 25 times more powerful than the 13 to 23 kiloton bombs dropped on Japan. In the American arsenal some of the bombs are rated at 1.2 megatons (1,200 kilotons)—60 times larger than the WWII bombs.17

Russia - 6,255 nuclear warheads
United States of America - 5,550 nuclear warheads
China - 350 nuclear warheads
France - 290 nuclear warheads
United Kingdom - 225 nuclear warheads
Pakistan - 165 nuclear warheads
India - 156 nuclear warheads
Israel - 90 nuclear warheads
North Korea - Unknown, but material to build ~100 nuclear warheads¹⁸

Yes, the idea of a nuclear confrontation is suicidal. It’s not even rational. Consequently, for the US to be opting for a war, proxy war or otherwise, with Russia rather than negotiate with Russia on agreements made decades ago is total insanity. Looking back at the history going back to the breakup of the old Soviet Union, it has been NATO, at the urging of the US, that has been pushing Putin’s hot buttons. And when Putin drew a red line, rather than even discuss it, he was ignored leaving Russia with only one option. Tuck tail and give up, or press forward and attack.

In a comment about the drone strike on the Kremlin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that “After successfully defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John Kennedy warned against ever again forcing Russia to choose between national humiliation and nuclear war. We should heed his advice.”¹⁰

So here we are discussing the prospects of nuclear war as Biden tries to put Russia in a corner.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. Tucker Carlson Interviews Donald Trump—April 11th, 2023 Nuclear Comments start at the 11:57 minute mark

2. 4 Ways That Joe Biden Could Get America Into A Nuclear War by Michael Snyder from The Most Important News

3. The Risk of Nuclear War is Now a Daily Issue for the Biden Administration by W.J. Hennigan from Time Magazine

4. Russia's Putin Issues New Nuclear Warnings to West over Ukraine by Guy Faulconbridge from Reuters

5. Why Is the US Wiring Ukraine With Radiation Sensors to Detect Nuclear Blasts? by Conor Gallagher from Naked Capitalism

6. What Are Depleted Uranium Munitions the UK Is Sending to Ukraine? from Al Jazeera

7. Whither Ukraine’s Counteroffensive? by M. K. Bhadrakumar from Indian Punchline

8. President Vladimir Putin Unharmed Following an Attempted Drone Strike on the Kremlin - Moscow by Euronews May 2, 2023

9. Four Drones Attacked Krasnodar Region's Oil Refinery, One of Them Did Not Explode from TASS

10. Former CIA Officer Says Decision to Drone Attack Kremlin Was Made by the United States by Paul Joseph Watson from Summit News

11. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by History.com Editors