Former Crypto-Analyst Analyzes the Danger of Nuclear Weapon Stockpiles 142
An anonymous reader writes "IEEE Spectrum reports that noted encryption pioneer Prof. Martin Hellman has a new passion; estimating the risk of our current nuclear weapons policies. His web site, Defusing the Nuclear Threat, asks the question, 'How risky are nuclear weapons? Amazingly, no one seems to know.' Hellman therefore did a preliminary analysis and found the risk to be 'equivalent to having your home surrounded by thousands of nuclear power plants.' The web site and a related statement therefore urgently call for more detailed studies to either confirm or correct his startling conclusion. The statement has been signed by seven notable individuals including former NSA Director Adm. Bobby R. Inman and two Nobel Laureates."
Thousands of nuclear plants... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:misleading summary (Score:5, Funny)
United States -- Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)
thousands of nuclear plants (Score:5, Funny)
That's reassuring, because it seems unlikely that my home will ever be surrounded by thousands of nuclear power plants.
The new Library of Congress-like unit for danger (Score:4, Funny)
and found the risk to be 'equivalent to having your home surrounded by thousands of nuclear power plants.'
So if one of these nuclear power plants exploded (that's the risk being talked about here?), how large would the crater be, expressed in Libraries of Congress? Also, how likely would such an event be, expressed in chances of successfully dropping a penny from the top of the Empire State Building into someone's pocket?
Re:"Thousands of nuclear plants"? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:And he is qualified how? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh no! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Oh no! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:misleading summary (Score:3, Funny)