Weapons of Mass Destruction

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Weapons of Mass Destruction

Detection of chemical and nuclear weapons of mass destruction

Detection of biological weapons of mass destruction

The conception of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) appeared during War World II after the use of atomic bombs. In the mass consciousness, weapons of mass destruction are usually associated first with atomic weapons, although the concept includes certain chemical and biological weapons.

The atomic bomb was used only twice in World War II, in bombarding the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August, 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August, 9, 1945) by the United States. The first bomb employed uranium-235 and produced an explosion equivalent in power to approximately 15 kilotons of TNT gunpowder. The second bomb employed plutonium and was equivalent in power to approximately 21 kilotons of TNT gunpowder.

On August 7, 1945 the General Staff of Japan received an alarming telegram from the Hiroshima region claiming that the city was completely destroyed by one bomb. Approximately 130 thousand people were killed because of the bombardments of both cities, and both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were completely destroyed. The number of injured also numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and the consequences of burns and radiation were apparent in bombardment victims for many years, often including the next generation.

The process of radioactive isotope (uranium-235 or plutonium-239) fission is the basis of the action of atomic weapons. A mammoth amount of energy is generated in this process. The dissipation of energy in an atomic bomb explosion occurs in the following approximate ratio: bomb blast and wind–50%, thermal rays–35%, and (radioactive) radiation–15%; these are the three main striking factors of an atomic explosion.

An even more powerful weapon, the hydrogen fusion bomb, was created several years after the A-bomb, and was created practically simultaneously in United States and in the former Soviet Union. The power of the H-bomb is hundreds of times higher than the power of an A-bomb. The process of hydrogen isotope fusion is the basis of the thermonuclear weapon action. The start of this reaction, however, must be initiated by a nuclear fission explosion.

On November 1, 1952, a 10.4 megaton thermonuclear explosion code-named MIKE, ushered in the thermonuclear age (it was an explosion of a special model of the device). The island of Elugelab in the Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific, was completely vaporized.

The first H-bomb was exploded in the Soviet Union in August, 1953, followed on March, 1, 1954, by the American explosion of a more powerful hydrogen bomb (approximately 15 megaton). The Soviets responded with the most powerful H-bomb explosion yet, in the Soviet Union on October 15, 1961, over the Novaya Zemlya (New Earth) island (in the Polar Ocean) at a height of approximately 13,000 feet (4,000 m) over the Earth. Its power was almost 50 megatons. A gigantic fire ball was created by the explosion that reached to the height of about 41.5 miles (67 km), and its light was seen for a distance of more then 621 miles (1,000 km). The explosion also resulted in a blast of wind that was felt for hundreds of kilometers.

The creation of the atomic bomb in the United States during World War II was an exceptional scientific phenomenon. The interval between the discovery of the physical fusion process that is the basis of the weapon action, and the moment of its first test (July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico desert) was only several years, and up to the end of this test, its creators were not absolutely sure that the test would be successful. The United States committed an enormous amount of scientific and monetary resources towards the creation of the atom bomb, and practically, a new branch of industry was formed.

In 1949, the A-bomb was also created in the Soviet Union. Later, a big concern among American intelligence authorities arose about atomic espionage, which helped the Russians to create the A-bomb during such a short period. Several people who passed to the Russians secrets about atomic elaboration were revealed and arrested (for example, Claus Fuchs, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were executed). Although some considered that espionage was the crucial factor in the Russian’s success, the main secret was whether the nuclear chain reaction of the A-bomb could be successfully created and controlled. As soon as the bomb exploded over Japan, this secret became clear. Additionally, in 1945, a noted report by American physicist H. D. Smith entitled “Atomic Energy for Military Purposes” was openly published, in which the principles of the bomb’s action, the methods of isotope separation, and even some of the characteristics of its construction were described in detail. The post-war Soviet Union of 1945 still contained highly qualified scientists, and the totalitarian regime dedicated all possible resources to the high-priority project of atomic bomb development. Thus, the arms race of the 1960s and 1970s has its beginnings as far back as the early post World War II era.

Many chemical weapons are also considered weapons of mass destruction. Various lethal poisons were known and successfully used in warfare as long ago as ancient times. The creation of such substances for weaponry is much easier and cheaper than, for example, to separate uranium isotopes as is necessary for a nuclear weapon. Chlorine gas, for example, of the simplest poison gases, can be created in small amounts in a simple laboratory. The problem of delivering poison gases to a battlefield is also much more simple than delivering an atomic weapon.

During World War I, the Germans were the first to use poison gases on the modern battlefield. The Germans bombarded their enemies with artillery shells armed with poison gas, or simply ejected gas from their containers. The names of some poison compounds are reminiscent of World War I; for instance, the poison gas yperite (mustard gas) has in its origin the name of the Belgian city Yper, where the gas was used the first time. In 1915, the Germans also conducted massive attacks using chlorine. As a result of one chlorine gas attack, five thousand persons were killed and about ten thousand were injured. The Germans ejected chlorine from 5730 balloons containing about 168 tons of chlorine within the 5-8 minute duration of the attack.

Officially, the use of chemical weapons is forbidden by the Hague Conventions concluded in 1899 and 1907, and these resolutions were further clarified and strengthened by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. The first international disarmament treaty that banned the production and stockpiling of biological weapons, and provided for destruction of existing stores became open for signature in 1975. Almost 30 years later, the treaty is still the subject of regular debate and clarification, and lacks wide-spread ratification.

In the meantime, chemists of various governments have worked actively to create new chemical substances with various destructive factors. Additional chemical weapons have been derived from toxic industrial chemicals that were originally designated for useful purposes, such as pesticides. Chemical weapons can generally be divided among several groups, depending on their action on people, including vesicants, toxins, incapacitating agents, nerve agents, and irritants. The production of vesicants is not technologically complicated. The production of the nerve agents, however, requires significantly more sophisticated chemical processing. Some production processes require strict temperature control, and containment of the toxic substances and gases can pose problems. Depending on the immediacy of use, purity of the product can add a difficult dimension to production. In some cases, special equipment or handling is required to prevent corrosion of equipment and/or rapid deterioration of the product.

Chemical weapons were not used during World War II, although the main participants had large reserves of such weapons. Production of these weapons continued after World War II, and only recently the United States and Russia have stopped their production, and agreed to begin to destroy existing stockpiles. Other nations and extremist groups have recently used chemical weapons. Iraq used chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war (probably a somewhat over-fluorinated DC, methylphosphonic dichloride) during the 1980s. Iraq additionally used Sarin gas on its own Kurdish population, killing thousands of citizens in the town of Halabja in 1988. Sarin gas was also the weapon used in an attack on the subway in Tokyo in 1995 by the Japanese extremist religious sect Aum Shinrikyo, in which 17 persons were killed and hundreds were injured.

Biological weapons are also capable of mass human destruction. The basic action of a biological weapon involves the use of pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria, viruses, fungi, or toxins produced by some bacteria. Biological weapons contain particular dangers because they can provoke perilous diseases in people and animals over large geographic areas, as the effectiveness of the weapon multiplies with the spreading of communicable disease. The destructive period can be lengthy with the use of a biological weapon, and it can have latent a (incubation) period of action.

What makes biological weapons so dangerous is that the cost to produce such weapons is nominal as compared to the cost to make nuclear weapons. This is why biological weapons are often considered as the terrorist or poor nation’s weapon of mass destruction. Also, the production of biological weapons can be easily hidden, as there are no special factories or highly specialized equipment needed for their production. Biological weapons can be deployed silently, through crude crop dusters, the mail, or even through bug bombs, therefore allowing for the initial escape of their deployers. Unlike their counterparts (chemical and nuclear weaponry), biological weaponry products are living organisms and do not breakdown over time, but in fact, can multiply and increase in numbers.

There is a long list of BW agents that could potentially be used in a war or a terrorist attack. Among those mentioned have been anthrax, cryptococcosis, Yersina pestis (plague, which caused the Black Death of the fourteenth century), tularemia (rabbit fever), malaria, cholera, typhoid, smallpox, cobra venom, and others. Some authors have also speculated about the possible terrorist use of new, genetically-engineered agents designed to defeat conventional methods of treatment, or to attack specific peoples.

The idea of using biological agents in war is not new. In the sixth century BC, Solon of Athens used the purgative herb hellebore (skunk cabbage) to poison the water supply during the siege of Krissa. In 1346, plague broke out in the Tartar army during its siege of Kaffa (at present day Feodosiys in the Crimea), after attackers hurled the corpses of those who died over the city walls. The plague epidemic that followed forced the defenders to surrender, and some infected people who left Kaffa may have started the Black Death pandemic that later spread throughout Europe. In 1797, Napoleon attempted to infect the inhabitants of the besieged city of Mantua with swamp fever during his Italian campaign. An attempted biological attack was undertaken in 1915 by the German-American physician Dr. Anton Dilger (in Baltimore, Maryland) who attempted to infect a reported 3,000 head of horses, mules, and cattle destined for the Allied forces in Europe. Nowadays, the specter of annihilation by killer pathogens or toxins has, in some sense, replaced the Cold War nightmare of extermination by massive nuclear attack.

Since 1972, the use of biological weapons is prohibited by the international treaty, as reflected in its formal title, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. As of 2003, the agreement had 144 nation-state signatories.

Scope of destruction

An atomic bomb exploded over a densely populated city could kill hundreds of thousands of people instantaneously and, as the lethal effects of radiation exposure take hold, cause many more deaths within days or weeks. Chemicals such as Ricin that disrupt nerve function are lethal upon exposure. Agents such as mustard gas can cause life-threatening burns. Chemical weapons can affect a wide geographical area because the chemicals are dispersed in the air.

Biological weapons take longer than nuclear and chemical weapons to cause damage. Because infections can subsequently spread through a population far from the site of contamination, and because the population may not be protected by vaccination or natural immunity to the microorganism responsible for the infection, the eventual death toll from an organized biological attack, however, could reach into the millions. Relevant modern day examples of biological weapons of mass destruction are anthrax (caused by Bacillus anthracis ), plague (caused by Yersinia pestis ), and smallpox (caused by the variola virus).

The damage from weapons that are less powerful or toxic can be minimized. For example, buildings can be fortified to withstand assaults from conventional explosives such as grenades. Thus, for such weapons, damage prevention can be the priority rather than detection. However, the damage from a weapon of mass destruction cannot be minimized once the weapon has been unleashed. Rather, the weapons need to be detected before they are used.

Detection of chemical and nuclear weapons of mass destruction

Imaging

Chemical and nuclear weapons are often delivered to their target in missiles. Sophisticated open-air launch facilities and large pieces of equipment are required for launch, and it is difficult to conceal such facilities from aerial surveillance. Planes, unmanned drones, and even satellites positioned over a region will all reveal the presence of a missile installation. Underground chemical storage facilities can also be revealed by the use of ground penetrating radar.

The materials that are commonly used in the construction of chemical and nuclear weapons can be detected. For example, an instrument called the Dual-Use Analyzer uses the phenomenon of eddy current. An electrical current is passed through a sample, and the conductivity of the metal produces a characteristic signal. If another metal is present, such as used in chemical and nuclear weapons, another signal is produced. The rogue signal can be compared to a databank of signals produced by metals that are typically used in weapons.

Light or radiation

The airborne release of chemical weapons can be detected using light. Specifically, the scattering or absorption of a directed beam of laser light, or the development of fluorescence when the aerosol cloud contacts laser or ultraviolet light, can detect a chemical cloud at a distance. This sort of detection is not specific. The identity of the compound in the aerosol cloud cannot be determined. But, detection can provide some time for preparations (i.e., evacuation, gathering in an air-tight facility). Specific detection methods, however, are possible. Chemical groups behave in distinctive ways when exposed to different kinds of light or radiation. The measurement of the chemical behavior is called spectroscopy. The machines that perform the analysis are called spectrometers.

In mass spectroscopy, the mass (or molecular weight) of proteins is determined. The molecular weight is an important means of identifying a protein. In turn, the identification of a protein can provide a clue as to what chemical agent is present. Raman spectroscopy relies on the change in the shape and frequency of the wave of light (i.e., the wavelength) as it passes through a sample to identify the chemical groups that cause the wavelength change. In neutron spectroscopy, neutrons interact with the chemical groups of the sample. The patterns of these interactions can be measured and used to identify chemical groups. Neutron spectroscopy is especially adept at detecting plutonium, and thus is useful in the detection of nuclear weapons. Finally, optical spectroscopy relies on the use of ultraviolet and infrared light. The absorption of the light energy by sample chemical groups, and the giving off of light of a different wavelength by the groups, is used to identify compounds, particularly compounds present in certain explosives.

A Geiger counter is a traditional portable radiation detection device. Here, a tube of gas becomes charged when neutrons pass through the tube. The charged particles are converted to an electrical signal that produces a read-out of the intensity of the radiation.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has developed a portable device that can detect nuclear weapons. The heart of the device is a small wafer made of gallium arsenide—a material that is similar to silicon—that is coated with boron or lithium. The coated wafer can detect neutrons that are given off by radioactive sources like plutonium²³⁹ and uranium²³³. Another portable sensor detects alloys like zirconium, which are typically used in nuclear weapons.

Sound

Sandi National Laboratories in Albuquerque New Mexico has developed a portable machine that can detect and identify 18 different chemicals in a vapor within a few minutes. This enables an on-the-spot detection of chemicals, which is applicable to the battlefield or to the detection of a planted chemical weapon. The compounds that can be detected can be present in chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons.

The basis of the detection is the acoustic wave sensor. A quartz surface can detect an electric signal and convert it to an acoustic signal. The acoustic signal then radiates over the quartz surface as a wave. As the wave moves, it encounters a film of material that has been coated onto the quartz. The chemical nature of the coatings determines what acoustic signal will register. The film slows down the speed of the acoustic wave, which can be used to identify the source of the wave.

The technique of acoustic resonance can reveal whether the interior of a missile is solid or whether it houses a liquid. The distinction is based on the resonance, or vibration, from inside a shell as the shell is vibrated by sound waves. Because different chemicals resonate at different frequencies of sound, the technique can even be used to determine the type of chemical housed in the shell.

Chemical reactions

Detection of chemical weapons can be accomplished by several methods. One means is by the use of detection paper. Dyes and pH indicator (an indicator of the concentration of hydrogen or hydronium ions in a solution) are incorporated into a cellulose paper. When a drop of liquid that contains a chemical warfare agent is spotted onto the paper, one of the indicators is dissolved (the particular indicator being dependent on the chemical agent present). The result is a color change. For example, mustard agent dissolves a red dye, and nerve agent dissolves a yellow dye. Other compounds like fat, oil, and fuel can also dissolve the dyes, which produces a false positive reaction. But, with careful use of the paper, the presence of chemical warfare agents can be detected.

Mustard gas can also be detected by sucking air through a tube containing an indicator compound. A reaction between the compounds produces a blue color when the tube is heated.

Detection of biological weapons of mass destruction

Spectroscopy

The identification of proteins by mass spectroscopy can be an efficient and rapid way to identify bacteria. An example is Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectroscopy (MALDI-MS). MALDI-MS can separate and detect different proteins in less than one second. The pattern that is produced is analyzed and the areas of the pattern that are unique to bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis (the cause of anthrax) and Yersinia pestis (the cause of plague) are identified.

Genetic technologies

The genetic detection of biological agents has become exquisitely sensitive. Gene probe sensors can detect and identify bacteria based upon the presence of a stretch of genetic material that is unique to the microorganism. An example is the use of the gene probe technology of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR detects a pre-determined sequence of genetic material and then produces copies of the target region. Millions of copies can be produced within a hour, allowing the sequence to be detected and studied using other tests (i.e., gel electrophoresis).

When PCR was first introduced, the equipment required dedicated space in a lab. Now, however, the equipment has been miniaturized so that it can fit into a standard briefcase. For example, the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has developed the Handheld Advanced Nucleic Acid Analyzer (HANAA). The HANAA is about the size of a brick. The genetic probes that are used are designed to detect specific microorganisms. The microbes of interest are Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis.

In contrast to the handheld detector, which operates periodically and under human control, the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) is designed to operate continuously and without operator assistance. A fan pulls in air, and any biological material is used for PCR analysis. The APDS, which is about the size of a mailbox, is positioned where round the clock monitoring is critical. The unit can be programmed to sound an alarm when a chemical unique to bacterial spores (including anthrax spores) is present. As well another reaction causes the development of fluorescence. The intensity of the fluorescence is related to the number of spores present.

Microorganisms can also be rapidly detected using antibodies that have been produced to certain components of the organisms. The binding of the antibody to the corresponding antigen can identify Bacillus anthracis in 15 minutes, for example. The same technology can be used with antibodies to other bacteria (e.g., Clostridium botulinum and viruses (e.g., smallpox), as well as to chemicals such as ricin.

Electrophoresis and chromatography

If a sample is suspected of containing a biological threat, the genetic material (deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA) present in the sample solution can be extracted from the other materials and analyzed. The analysis involves cutting the DNA into a variety of pieces using enzymes that recognize specific sequences of nucleotides (the building blocks of the DNA). When the pieces of DNA are electrophoresed a series of bands results in the electrophoretic gel. The pattern of the bands is compared to patterns in a database. If an exact match is found, then the identity of the micro-organism is established.

The various types of chromatography all distinguish different chemical groups from one another by the varying behaviors of the groups in certain environments. For example, one chemical group may move more slowly through a certain liquid than another chemical group. Thus, the two groups can be separated from one another. Furthermore, the pattern of their movements provides a fingerprint to identify the chemical natures of the compounds.

Microorganisms can be detected by a technique called gas liquid chromatography. The method detects fatty acids, which are a portion of the lipid molecules that make up the membrane(s) that surround micro-organisms. This type of detection still requires a bulky machine and the use of specialized personnel. Nonetheless, if the need for detection is on the order of days rather than minutes, then fatty acid analysis is a useful and accurate technique.

Filters

Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi that are floating in the air can be detected by sucking the air through a filter. The filter traps the microorganisms. The filter is then placed in contact with a food source that encourages the growth and division of the bacterial or fungal cells. Within about 24 to 48 hours the microorganisms have grown and reproduced enough to form a visible clump of cells called a colony. This technology is also portable.

Resources

BOOKS

Cirincione, Joseph, Jon B. Wolfsthal, Miriam Rajkuman, Jessica T. Mathews. Deadly Arsenals: Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002.

Harris, Robert, and Jeremy Paxman. A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York: Random House, 2002.

Lavoy, Peter R., Scott D. Sagan, James J. Wirtz. Planning the Unthinkable: How New Powers Will Use Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2001.

Sagan, Scott D. and Kenneth N. Waltz. The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed, Second Edition. W W Norton & Co., 2003.