The PULSE | global nomads group

Programs

The PULSE: Nuclear Weapons - What should our policy be?

Date: Tuesday, October 17, and Thursday, October 19, 2006
Times: Please see time slots below
Grades: 8 - 12
Topics: Current Events, Social Studies, World Issues
Cost (2 videoconferences): non members - $240 | members - $180

Photo by Mark König

Gone are the days when owning a nuclear arsenal was the privilege of a handful of powerful nations. Today more and more countries (such as Iran) are acquiring the capabilities to produce their own devices, and so-called “rogue” states such as North Korea may well have already developed nuclear capabilities.

To make matters worse, international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda have openly expressed their desire to lay their hands on such weapons, for obvious intentions. Never since the cold war has the threat of nuclear weapons been so great.

There are 28,000 nuclear weapons in existence today: what should we do?

In this videoconference series, we asked students to develop their opinion on the issue of nuclear weapons from a US point of view. Using Choices for the 21st Century’s lesson plan Nuclear Weapons: What Should Our Policy Be? as a starting point, students shared their values and expressed their thoughts with other classrooms across the United States.

Tuesday, October 17: Students from across the country discussed and compared what they thought the US’ nuclear weapons policy should be. This informal round-table conversation was moderated by David Macquart, co-founder of the Global Nomads Group.

Thursday, October 19:
Students in St. Louis, Cinncinati, Dallas, New Braunfels, Texas and Little Falls, NJ, interacted via videoconferencing with Joe Cirincione (Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress), an expert on weapons of mass destruction, arms control and security issues.

Mr. Cirincione opened the conference with brief overview of the most pressing nuclear weapons issues today, and gave a broad description of US policy on the issue. He described the chemical properties of nuclear weapons including highly enriched uranium bombs, plutonium bombs and the extremely lethal hydrogen bomb. He talked about their relative size, describing the core of a plutonium bomb as being "approximately the size of an orange, imploding to the size of a walnut" and the highly enriched uranium bomb as needing a core "about the size that would fill a coke can." He calmly explained that, should a nuclear weapon be directed at the United States, "You would be alright in Texas, but New York City would be ground zero." This really brought to life the threat of Nuclear weapons and gave students an idea of how pressing this matter really was.

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