Research Project: Strategic Defense Initiative
“What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security didn’t depend upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter an enemy attack?”
Ronald Reagan; 1983
In his speech of March 23, 1983, President Reagan presented his vision of a future where a Nation’s security did not rest upon the threat of nuclear retaliation, but on the ability to protect and defend against such attacks. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) research program
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But, SDI ultimately seeks a future in which nations can live in peace and freedom, secure in the knowledge that their national security does not rest upon the threat of nuclear relation. Therefore, the SDI research program has placed its emphasis on options that provide the grounds for eliminating the general threat posed by ballistic missiles. So, the goal of the research is not, and cannot be, simply to protect the retaliation forces from …show more content…
But as you can imagine, there is not a way to provide such a power source in space. Do to the lack of a power source, the entire SDI project was dropped.
If a future President elects to move toward a general defense against ballistic missiles, the technological option’s that SDI explored will certainly increase the survival of U.S. retaliatory efforts. This will require a stable concept and process to manage the transition to the future SDI seeks.
“Our Nation and those nations allied with us face a number of challenges to our security. Each of those challenges imposes its own demands and its own opportunities. Preserving peace and freedom is, and always will be, our fundamental goal. The essential purpose of our military forces, and our nuclear forces inparticularly, is to deter aggression based upon the threat of military aggression.”
Ronald Reagan, 1983
The faults within the Hercules missile system identified a vital need for an interceptor capable of missile defense while maintaining a shield against high-performance aircraft. One system has proven itself above all others in the realm of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) and air breathing threat (ABT) defense; that system is the PATRIOT. Throughout the PATRIOT’s history, it has proven to be a serious heavyweight contender in the worldwide air defense community.
Protecting the United States from Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction through the National Missile Defense Program
Environmental Goals."IAEA BULLETIN. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. "Fusion Energy." Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
When Ronald Reagan was in the Presidency, he and his staff came up with the idea for a missile defense system that would defend the country in the event of a nuclear missile attack. This system was named "Star Wars" and the basic principal behind it was that it would be a shield that covered all fifty states. However, government officials soon realized that Reagan's defense system was impossible to build, so the program was dropped, but the idea to defend the country against a missile attack stuck around. Today, the U. S. Government is trying to build a new, more realistic missile defense system. However, not all the problems have been worked out, and the U. S. Government should not deploy their missile defense system without conducting further tests.
3. ITER, Project (2005). The ITER Project. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Fusion Energy Web site: http://www.iter.org/
When we talk about nuclear weapons technology, we need to talk about the Arms Race since World War II in order to be able to understand how this technology begins. The Arms Race is a continuous race among many nations to make and improve weapons in a struggle to maintain and/or gain power. The United States and the Soviet Union are two key players in this race. These two major nuclear weapons nations see one another as a reason and a justification for spending an enormo...
The United States of America is one of the most powerful countries in the world. This power is a direct result of the careful planning of policies that will govern the direction that the country goes. An effective defense policy is very important in assuring the safety of the citizens in the country and assuring a commanding position within the international community. In accordance, it is important that the United States should adopt a defense policy, so that they seek to form a coalition of strong allies in which they are the sole superpower so that in essence, they may control the whole international community. Before being able to actively pursue this defense policy and act powerful, we must make ourselves powerful. In the process of making ourselves powerful, we must carefully examine the existing threats to the country and this power that we want to have.
Nuclear power is generated by using electricity created during a controlled fission or fusion reaction (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). Nuclear fission is a process that releases energy when a nucleus in one atom is separated into two nuclei. Nuclear fusion occurs when the nuclei of two hydrogen atoms are fused together producing a larger nuclei along with energy (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection). In the 1950s, the use of nuclear power became a realistic idea for countries with nuclear capabilities and nuclear power programs (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). The international nuclear program grew rapidly and by 1999 there were 436 nuclear power plants in 32 different counties. The United States, Japan, Canada, Russia, India and France remain the largest users of nuclear energy since the 1990s; however, the dependency on nuclear power varies greatly around the world because of differences in the individual nuclear power programs availability of needed resources (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection).
Nuclear power has grown to be a big percentage of the world’s energy. As of January 18, 2013 in 31 countries 437 nuclear power plant units with an installed electric net capacity of about 372 GW are in operation and 68 plants with an installed capacity of 65 GW are in 15 countries under construction. As of end 2011 the total electricity production since 1951 amounts to 69,760 billion kWh. The cumulative operating experience amounted to 15, 15,080 years by end of 2012. (European Nuclear Society) The change that nuclear power has brought to the world has led to benefits in today’s energy’s usage.
The main parties who is associated with the debate are governments, experts, and the country people. These people have given out their opinions regarding the effects of nuclear ene...
As populations grow, countries develop and industries boom, demand for energy continues to increase. Many countries see nuclear power as a way of meeting their electricity needs while reducing their CO2 emissions. There are many misconceptions in society about nuclear power. While it may be dangerous, nuclear can solve the energy demand for a country’s growing population, particularly Australia. The truth behind nuclear physics will be discussed in this report, the types of nuclear radiations and its effects, the enormous amount of energy a nuclear reaction can produce, the developments of nuclear generators, along with suggestions for Australia regarding the development of nuclear power plant in the country.
The use of nuclear power in the mid-1980s was not a popular idea on account of all the fears that it had presented. The public seemed to have rejected it because of the fear of radiation. The Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union in April of 1986 reinforced the fears, and gave them an international dimension (Cohen 1). Nevertheless, the public has to come to terms that one of the major requirements for sustaining human progress is an adequate source of energy. The current largest sources of energy are the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas. Fear of radiation may push nuclear power under the carpet but another fear of the unknown is how costly is this going to be? If we as the public have to overcome the fear of radiation and costly project, we first have to understand the details of nuclear energy. The known is a lot less scary then the unknown. If we could put away all the presumptions we have about this new energy source, then maybe we can understand that this would be a good decision for use in the near future.
Power from nuclear fusion reactors would be a welcome achievement for the 21st century, and at the current rate of progress it seems likely that before the end of the new century energy will be available from nuclear fusion. It is estimated that it will take over a decade from the time a sustainable fusion reaction is achieved before fusion power will be available for use. But the attention being devoted to research is strong, the experiments are coming closer to fruition, and we are coming closer to having an almost limitless supply of energy.
The universally known federal agency responsible for nuclear weapons is the Department of Defense, which of course, supervises the nation’s armed forces, as well as those military units qualified to control nuclear weapons and their means of delivery; for example, the missiles, bombers and submarines that are used to “deliver” the weapons to their intended targets. Within the Office of the Secretary of Defense are a number of agencies that deal with nuclear weapons concerns from erratic