Debates are opening on the possibility of a limited and controlled nuclear war as well as the possibility of Russia using a tactical type weapon in the context of the war in Ukraine, warned the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
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In an interview with QUB radio, the editor of nuclear affairs at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, François Diaz-Maurin, mentioned that his publication has a duty to educate, inform and alert people to this type of problem. . “We have made an effort to disseminate knowledge and the effect of nuclear exchanges in the world”, he mentioned at the microphone of Benoit Dutrizac.
According to him, the strategy of controlled nuclear war can be doubted and he does not wish to verify whether it is true or false. “If we try to verify, it is that we leave the possibility of the use of a single weapon. The only use we have had in the history of mankind is when there was only one country that had nuclear weapons and the two bombs in its possession were used. Today, nine countries have nuclear weapons. It is therefore complicated to admit that he can have a controlled war.
The latter clarified that there are also theories in the other direction. These indicate that the use of a single nuclear weapon would call for such a devastating response since it is in the policies of the doctrines that actions of this type must undergo a response of the same order of magnitude. “The use of a single nuclear weapon would be an aberration and a fault on the scale of humanity.”
The first objective of developing a nuclear weapon, according to Mr. Diaz-Maurin, is to cause damage to the adversary. “The military seeks to have the maximum possible power. The latter is affected by how the bomb is dropped. If it explodes before it hits the ground, it’s even more damaging to cities. An average weapon of about 300 kilotons generated gigantic amounts of soot. In a conflict between India and Pakistan, it would be on the order of 100 projected nuclear warheads. As for a war between the United States and Russia, it would be 1500 on either side. Moreover, this war would not be limited to the territories of the United States and Russia.
In the event of the outbreak of a nuclear war, Mr. Diaz-Maurin believes that there is no preferred place to take refuge. He felt that governments around the world must be prepared for this eventuality.
“We are in a period of real uncertainty. I cannot say what will or will not happen in Ukraine. That said, we are informing the population about the consequences and the possibility of real escalation of any use of a nuclear weapon.”