1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910984659003321

Autore

Potter William C

Titolo

Death Dust : The Rise, Decline, and Future of Radiological Weapons Programs / William C. Potter, Sarah Bidgood, Samuel Meyer and Hanna Notte

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Stanford University Press, 2014

Redwood City, : Stanford University Press, , 2023

©2023

ISBN

9781503637665

1503637662

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (225 pages)

Altri autori (Persone)

BidgoodSarah

MeyerSamuel

NotteHanna

Disciplina

355/.0335

Soggetti

Dirty bombs - Government policy - History

Military weapons - Technological innovations - History

Military policy - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. The United States -- 2. The Soviet Union -- 3. The United Kingdom -- 4. Egypt -- 5. Iraq -- Conclusion: Patterns across Cases and Prospects for the Future -- Notes -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

"The postwar period saw increased interest in the idea of relatively easy-to-manufacture but devastatingly lethal radiological munitions whose use would not discriminate between civilian and military targets. Death Dust explores the largely unknown history of the development of radiological weapons (RW)--weapons designed to disperse radioactive material without a nuclear detonation--through a series of comparative case studies across the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Iraq, and Egypt. The authors illuminate the historical drivers of and impediments to radiological weapons innovation. They also examine how new, dire geopolitical events--such as the war in Ukraine--could encourage other states to pursue RW and analyze the



impact of the spread of such weapons on nuclear deterrence and the nonproliferation regime. Death Dust presents practical, necessary steps to reduce the likelihood of a resurgence of interest in and pursuit of radiological weapons by state actors"--