by Cheryl Rofer
The United States maintains two hundred or more nuclear weapons in Europe, say Pugwash and the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) in reports issued in January.
The nuclear weapons are B61 gravity bombs, which are classified as tactical nuclear weapons. If you thought that all American nuclear weapons had been removed from Europe, you were probably thinking of strategic nuclear weapons, the kind that are mounted on missiles and are controlled by treaty in ways that tactical nuclear weapons are not.
The B61s are at air bases in Belgium (Kleine Brogel), Germany (Büchel), Italy (Aviano), the Netherlands (Volkel), and Turkey (Incirlik). According to Pugwash, Italy and Turkey hold most of them. Nuclear weapons have been withdrawn completely from Greece and the UK, and the numbers reduced in Germany and Italy in recent years. The exact figures for US nuclear weapons in Europe are classified, but Pugwash estimates 200 and BASIC estimates 200-350. BASIC cites a report by Hans Kristensen from the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Pugwash cites other of Kristensen’s reports, along with the Italian Union of Scientists for Disarmament.
This “nuclear sharing” is a throwback to the Cold War. The bombs are deterrents to the Soviet Union’s designs on Europe and a promise to Europe of American involvement in attempts to beat back those designs. In the event of hostile action from the east, pilots from the countries where these weapons are stationed could deliver the bombs.
This is one of the things that keep Russia nervous about NATO. Russia itself has about 3,000-6,000 tactical nuclear weapons*, all on Russian territory. But Russia is no longer the Soviet Union and no longer advocates world revolution.
The host states are not pleased about the presence of nuclear weapons, but there is a sort of “don’t ask – don’t tell” to the lack of discussion in those countries. However, relations between the United States and Turkey have been unsettled in recent years, and the fact of US nuclear weapons on Turkish territory, along with Turkey’s being the front line in any attack on Russia or the latest enemy, Iran, could cause further damage to the relationship. Additionally, any accidents in handling those B61s would cause problems for the relationships of the US with the host countries.
This nuclear sharing is contrary to the spirit, and possibly the letter, of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Article I says
Each nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty undertakes not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly, or indirectly; and not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, or control over such weapons or explosive devices.The US/NATO interpretation would likely be that the B61s are under US control and therefore not “transferred” to the states where they are stationed.
These are not “suitcase nukes,” but they are more vulnerable to theft than nukes attached to missiles. They are not regulated under arms-control treaties. The BASIC report says that the US Defense Department has been considering withdrawing the rest of them from Europe. It’s about time to do that.
Links to the Pugwash and BASIC home pages.
Update: And the security at these bases was found to be none too good last year. (Thanks to Steve at Newshoggers for the tip!)
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* This is the total. The equivalent number for the US is about 500.