Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #119165

Peter Wilk, MD, Sarah Stanlick, Martin Butcher, Michael McCally, MD PhD, Ira Helfand, MD, Robert M. Gould, MD, and John Pastore, MD. Physicians for Social Responsibility, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1012, Washington, DC 20009, 202.667.4260, rmgould1@yahoo.com

U.S. counter-proliferation strategy includes the use of nuclear weapons to disarm other countries. U.S. plans have included the use nuclear weapons against Iraqi chemical weapons targets during the first Gulf War, plans and veiled threats under President Clinton to use nuclear weapons against nuclear weapons facilities in North Korea in 1994, and against the Tarhuna chemical weapons plant in Libya in 1996. To this end, the U.S. Congress is considering funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) a “bunker-busting” nuclear bomb, intended to penetrate hard surfaces such as rock and explode underground. To fulfill plans for development of an RNEP, the U.S. has pursued the adaptation of an existing bomb, the B83, with a yield approximately 80 times the explosive power of the bomb used by the U.S. on Hiroshima. If approved by Congress, RNEP could be ready for deployment by 2013. Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) calculates that the use of such a weapon against targets in Iran or North Korea could cause millions of deaths, and lead to millions more acute and long-term health effects for local populations and US military personnel in the affected regions. In one scenario, use of the RNEP against Esfahan in Iran, as many as 35 million people in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India could receive doses of radiation high enough to cause a significant health impact. Current efforts by physicians and public health practitioners to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons will be discussed.

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