Scientists' Statement on Nuclear Bunker-Busters
In the current debate over U.S. nuclear weapons policy, some advocate that the United States design new earth-penetrating nuclear weapons to attack hardened and deeply buried targets. Further, some suggest that new designs for low-yield earth-penetrating weapons would allow the destruction of deeply buried targets without causing massive collateral damage.
However, an earth-penetrating warhead with a yield sufficient to destroy a buried target cannot penetrate deeply enough to fully contain the nuclear explosion; it would necessarily produce an intense and deadly radioactive fallout. Thus, it is not technically possible to use nuclear weapons to destroy deeply buried targets without at the same time causing significant radioactive contamination and collateral damage if used in an urban area.
It is imperative that U.S. policymakers and the public understand these technical realities in assessing the potential security costs and benefits of developing new earth-penetrating nuclear weapons.
Sidney D. Drell
Professor Emeritus, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Stanford University
Richard L. Garwin
Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow and Director, Science and Technology Studies Program
Council on Foreign Relations
Raymond Jeanloz
Professor of Earth & Planetary Science and Astronomy
the University of California, Berkeley
Michael M. May
Director Emeritus, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Co-Director, Emeritus, Center for International Security and Cooperation
Stanford University
Al Narath
Former President and Director
Sandia National Laboratories
Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky
Professor Emeritus
Director Emeritus, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Stanford University
Bob Peurifoy
Former Vice-President
Sandia National Laboratories
Released by the Union of Concerned Scientists, June 7, 2002.
