Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     The Princeton researchers, using archived weather data over a forty-eight-hour period across a number of dates in 2021 to simulate the expected radioactive plume, discovered that the West Coast states were at the lowest risk due to a prevailing easterly wind.
     However, depending on the exact wind direction, the worst fallout could rain down over any part of the U.S. and Canada east of Idaho. Based on weather patterns on December 2, 2021, Chicago, Illinois and Washington D.C., among other population centers, would be in the direct path of a fatal dose of radiation.
     In a worst-case scenario, almost all of Montana and North Dakota, as well as parts of Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas would receive a dose of radiation more than ten times what is considered lethal, bringing death in a few days. Most of the Midwestern U.S., would receive a lethal dose of radiation, while elsewhere would see deaths occur in weeks.
     The researchers found that most people living in North America would have a one percent chance of receiving an outdoor dose severe enough to cause acute radiation poisoning resulting in death.
     The Princeton modeling makes its prediction based on the assumption that all silo-based missiles would be struck. The report does note that its projections have already been confirmed by a 1990 Federal Emergency Management Agency assessment. It found that no part of the U.S. was beyond the risk of deadly levels of radiation.
     Laura Helmuth is the Scientific American’s editor-in-chief. She said, “These maps send a clear message with which the many nuclear safety and environmental experts we spoke to concur: these are not risks that we should be taking.”
     The Pentagon stressed the need for the U.S. to have a functioning atomic arsenal to act as a deterrent against other nations with nuclear arsenals. Some critics have questioned the cost and necessity of the new missile replacement program because of the occasional false alarms in the system and the advances in U.S. submarines and aerial strike capabilities.
      William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, stated his opinion in 2016 that “there is only one way to win an arms race: refuse to run.” He added that “The only real way to use nuclear weapons is never. They should exist only in numbers large enough to deter their use by others, which they already abundantly do, with not one warhead more.” His opinion was cited in the Scientific American article.
     A DoD spokesperson claimed that the “the attributes of each Triad leg are complementary, ensuring that the United States can withstand and respond to any strategic attack.”
     He added that “After extensive review, the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review reiterated that the combination of all three legs of the U.S. nuclear Triad is the best approach to maintaining strategic stability at reasonable cost while mitigating against the risk of potential technical, programmatic or other problems or vulnerabilities. Silo-based ICBMs have been a core element of the Triad for over 60 years, and the replacement of the Minuteman III ICBM weapon system by the Sentinel ICBM weapon system does not increase risk to the United States.”