VOA标准英语2010年-Short-Range Nuclear Weapons Not Part o

US President Barack Obama, left, and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, right, shake hands at a press conference after signing the newly completed "New START" treaty reducing long-range nuclear weapons at the Prague Castle, 8 Apr 2010

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) recently signed by the United States and Russia deals only with long-range nuclear weapons.

 

The treaty replaces the 1991 START I accord that expired last December.  It sets a limit of 1,550 deployed¹ strategic - or long-range - nuclear warheads. Some of those are mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) fired from underground silos. Long-range warheads are also delivered from heavy bombers² or submarines.

Experts say there is another class of nuclear weapons that needs to be addressed - weapons not covered by the New START Treaty.  Those are tactical - or short-range - nuclear weapons, including land and air-based missiles with a range of less than 500 kilometers - so-called "battlefield weapons."

Daryl Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association, a private research firm, says Russia has an overwhelming superiority over the United States when it comes to tactical nuclear weapons.

"There are various independent estimates that put the total number of Russian tactical nuclear weapons around 2,000 to 4,000," said Kimball.  "Now the reality is that only a few hundred of these are probably deployed in a manner that would allow for them to be used in a matter of days or weeks. The rest of them are in deep storage, are in various states of disrepair and are simply not available for use. The United States, on the other hand, has several hundred tactical warheads - a few of these, perhaps 200, are stored in Europe on five European NATO bases [Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy and Turkey], theoretically for use in a conflict in Europe."

Many experts say the chances of a Russia / NATO war in Europe are virtually non-existant.

Frank Miller³, a former senior official on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, says there is no logical explanation for Russia to have such a large arsenal⁴ of tactical nuclear weapons.

"The Russians believe that their conventional forces have deteriorated⁵ to a point where they must rely on tactical nuclear weapons - mostly this is aimed at ..," noted⁶ Miller.  "That's rather foolish.  For a country that suffered through the Chernobyl experience, the idea that they could, if deterrence⁷ failed against .. and they had to use nuclear weapons, that they could use more than a handful of these weapons to signal to .. it has miscalculated, is mind-boggling. To have several thousands of these weapons is absolutely obscene."

Experts say the Russian tactical nuclear weapons pose a specific security risk that is not the case with long-range nuclear warheads.

"The strategic warheads are attached to very large pieces of metal: ICBMs, bombers, subs - you have some security risks, but very low theft risks there," said Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a foundation focusing on nuclear weapons policy.  "The tactical weapons, however, are still scattered⁸ in some dozen different storage depots⁹ around Russia and they are much more vulnerable to theft - they are more mobile - these are still heavy objects, but something you could put in a large van or truck. So you're concerned that there might be some corruption¹⁰ or some penetration¹¹ of your security around the tactical nuclear weapons by a force, say an Islamic fundamentalist force, a Chechen rebel force - so they do pose a greater risk of terrorist acquisition."

The issue of tactical nuclear weapons is not addressed by the New START Treaty. Critics of the accord say it should have been part of the START negotiations¹².

But many experts, including Daryl Kimball, say the New START Treaty had only one purpose, to reduce and put a ceiling on long-range nuclear forces. Tactical nuclear weapons were never intended to be part of the discussions.

"There has never been a U.S.-Russian arms control agreement that limits tactical nuclear weapons," added Kimball.  "The Reagan administration failed to accomplish this. The George Herbert Walker Bush administration failed to do this. The Clinton administration, the second Bush administration - so this is a tough problem. And I think it is extremely unrealistic to have expected the Obama administration, in less than one year after coming into office, to be able to conclude a further reduction of strategic warheads and for the first time in history, somehow manage to persuade the Russians to reduce tactical nuclear weapons."

Many analysts¹³ believe the next round of arms control negotiations between Washington and Moscow could include tactical nuclear weapons. But they say any new discussion will begin only after the New START treaty is ratified¹⁴ by the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament. Experts say if that treaty is rejected, it would ruin any chances of further arms negotiations.

 

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

4 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

5 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

12 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。