Report: United States Is Vulnerable to Nuclear Attack

(July 22) -- The threat of an all-out nuclear exchange between Russia and the United States may be less than it was during the Cold War, but defense experts say decades-long efforts to avoid a possible Armageddon have had a downside: The United States is now woefully unprepared for any kind of nuclear attack.

That's the conclusion of an influential Pentagon defense advisory panel, which recently completed a comprehensive review of the nation's ability to respond to and survive a nuclear attack. The panel found that the expertise needed to survive a nuclear attack has atrophied since the end of the Cold War.

"The task force believes that this state of affairs ... is dangerous and needs to be reversed," states the report issued jointly by the Defense Science Board and the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee Task Force. The reports authors say the conclusions of the study should serve as a "wake-up call" to the Pentagon, and they urge the Defense Department's leadership to take steps to enhance nuclear survivability.

Undated file photo of the launch key mechanism at the deactivated Delta Nine Launch Facility near Wall, S.D.

Minuteman Missile NHS/AP

An advisory panel at the Pentagon has concluded that the country is inadequately prepared for a nuclear attack. Here, in an undated photo, is the key mechanism at the deactivated Delta Nine Launch Facility near Wall, S.D.

Among the specific problems cited in the report are the lack of hardening of military equipment needed to ensure it would survive a nuclear blast and resulting electromagnetic radiation, and a decline in knowledge among military leaders on how to operate and respond to a nuclear attack.

"Technical expertise and infrastructure have decayed significantly," the report states. "Investments in nuclear survivability have declined."

Both the Untied States and Russia have slashed their nuclear stockpiles significantly since the end of the Cold War, and the Obama administration has taken steps to further reduce the nation's nuclear arsenal. Under a nuclear reduction pact signed this year, both countries agreed to limit the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550.

Ironically, the problems identified in the report are sparked, in part, by the lessening danger of an all-out nuclear attack. The panel members warned that 60 years of deterrence has led senior leaders to de-emphasize the importance of preparing for a nuclear attack.

"The task force also believes this point of view is profoundly wrong and dangerous," the report says.