1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,160 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,639 Speaker 1: show that proves it's never too late to make history. 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're looking at how international 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: outcry caused a promising new weapon to be shelved indefinitely. 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: As a warning, today's episode contains details about nuclear warfare 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: that some listeners may find upsetting, and rightly so. The 8 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: day was April seventh, nineteen seventy eight. US President Jimmy 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: Carter announced his decision to delay production of the neutron bomb. 10 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: The controversial new weapon had sparked global debate over the 11 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: morality of its usage. Some people hailed the end bomb 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: for being cleaner and more humane compared to traditional nuclear weapons, 13 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: but others argued that such a bomb would only increase 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: the likelihood of full scale nuclear war. The disagreement put 15 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: immense pressure on the Western Alliance, and the Carter administration 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: was split on how to best maintain it. Behind the scenes, 17 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: discussions lasted for nearly a year, during which time the 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: Democratic president went back and forth on the issue multiple times. 19 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: In the end, he chose to pause the neutron bomb 20 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: program but stopped short of canceling it completely. The compromise 21 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: was intended to appease both sides of the divide, but 22 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: in practice neither party was satisfied. The technical term for 23 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: neutron bombs is enhanced radiation weapons or erws. They were 24 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: developed by the United States in the late nineteen fifties 25 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: and early sixties as a potential replacement for existing atomic bombs. 26 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: To be clear, both types of warhead are nuclear weapons, 27 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: but there's a key difference between how they work. Atomic 28 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: bombs use the energy released by the splitting or fission 29 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: of an atomic nucleus, whereas neutron bombs use the energy 30 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 1: released by the joining or fusion of two atomic nuclei. 31 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: In practice, that means an atomic bomb kills people mostly 32 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: with the force of its blast, rather than with the 33 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: radiation it releases. With a neutron bomb, it's just the opposite. 34 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: The weapon produces a relatively minor blast, but it releases 35 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: large amounts of deadly radiation. The US military believed neutron 36 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: bombs would be an ideal weapon to use if the 37 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: Soviet Army should decide to invade Europe by firing the 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: small hydrogen warheads from a nearby base. The US Army 39 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: could wipe out entire armored divisions while leaving most of 40 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: the surrounding buildings and infrastructure intact. Limiting collateral damage would 41 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: be a chief concern in such a case, as the 42 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: short range missiles would have been launched over Allied nations, 43 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: primarily West Germany. However, the weapons reduced blast wasn't its 44 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: only appeal. The army also prized the end bomb for 45 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: its more humane approach to killing. While other nuclear weapons 46 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: would poison survivors and cause them to die a slow 47 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: death from radiation sickness, a neutron bomb would unleash enough 48 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: radiation to ensure there were no survivors. As you might expect, 49 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: much of the general public did not regard the bomb's 50 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,839 Speaker 1: deadliness as the selling point the military saw it as. 51 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: In June of nineteen seventy seven, the Washington Post broke 52 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: the news that the US was developing a new killer warhead. 53 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: Other papers quickly picked up the story, including the New 54 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: York Times, which reported that, quote, the nuclear weaponeers have 55 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: unfolded a new brain child, the neutron bomb, which will 56 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: kill people while preserving buildings, tanks, and artillery many critics 57 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: in both the US and in Europe labeled the weapon 58 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: as a capitalist bomb, one designed to annihilate life but 59 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: preserve property. One of the most well known opponents of 60 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: the bomb was science fiction author Isaac Asimov, who said 61 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,799 Speaker 1: the weapons quote seemed desirable to those who worry about 62 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: property and hold life cheap. To be fair, though a 63 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: neutron bomb would still cause plenty of property damage, just 64 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: far less than an atomic warhead. For many in Europe, 65 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: though the relatively small scale impact of a neutron bomb 66 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: was in itself a cause for concern, the citywide destruction 67 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: and huge fallout zones normally associated with conventional nuclear weapons 68 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: had always acted as a deterrent to their use. Neutron 69 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: bombs reduced those threats, which in turn may have made 70 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: countries less reluctant to engage in nuclear warfare. William Peddon, 71 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: of the UK based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament later commented 72 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: on that hidden danger, calling the neutron bomb quote the 73 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: magic wand of nuclear weapons. You could wave it and 74 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: all the people would be gone. All the bad press 75 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: over the neutron bomb caught the Carter administration off guard, 76 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: and the President didn't respond publicly until a little over 77 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: a month after the story broke, he finally broached the 78 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: subject at a news conference, saying, quote, the enhanced radiation 79 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: of the neutron bomb has been discussed and also has 80 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: been under development for fifteen or twenty years. It is 81 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: not a new concept at all, not a new weapon. 82 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: Carter went on to say that he had not yet 83 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: decided whether to support the use of the neutron bomb, 84 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: but he thought that quote, it ought to be one 85 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: of our options. That opinion did not go over well 86 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: with Carter's liberal base, nor was it well received by 87 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: his European allies. In the months that followed, mass protests 88 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: against the end bomb broke out all across Europe, and 89 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: countries such as Norway, Belgium, and Holland flat refused to 90 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: allow the weapons within their borders. However, many US military 91 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: officials and administration members continued to promote the end bomb 92 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: as their best chance for finally putting an end to 93 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: the Cold War. President Carter ultimately decided to halt neutron 94 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: bomb production at least temporarily, and while that decision surely 95 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: lost him support both in Washington and abroad. What soured 96 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: his reputation. Even more so was his apparent waffling over 97 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: which course of action to take. For example, on April fourth, 98 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, The New York Times declared that Carter 99 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: had reached his decision and that the neutron bomb would 100 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: not be produced. However, the Carter administration immediately struck down 101 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: that story, insisting that a decision had not yet been made. 102 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: President Carter himself was widely blamed for the confusion, as 103 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: it had long been reported that he was conflicted about 104 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: the controversial weapon. According to sources inside the administration, the 105 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: neutron bomb quote challenged Carter's strong personal beliefs over the 106 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: morality of nuclear warfare. As a result, he reportedly flip 107 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: flopped between whether or not to produce the bomb, eventually 108 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: deciding to just split the difference instead, and so, just 109 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: three days after denying the Times story, President Carter declared 110 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: a halt to neutron bomb production. However, he did leave 111 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: opened the option to resume production should the Soviet Union 112 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: provoke such an attack. That way, Carter could retain the 113 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: threat of the end bomb as a kind of bargaining 114 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: chip for future negotiations with Moscow. President Carter's decision was 115 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: not warmly received by the bomb supporters nor by its opponents. 116 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: That's because it basically kicked the issue down the line 117 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: for someone else to worry about, reinforcing the idea that 118 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: Carter was indecisive. His presidential successor, Ronald Reagan, was a 119 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: bit more firm in his opinion. He reversed US policy 120 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: after taking office and ordered the production of neutron warheads 121 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: to commence in nineteen eighty one. Once again, though, the 122 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: bomb's detractors sprang into action, with anti nuclear activists taking 123 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: to the streets and droves. The opposition was so heated 124 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: in Europe that many leaders there refused to allow the 125 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: weapons to be stationed, causing President Reagan to scrap the 126 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: program yet again. In the end, only a handful of 127 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: neutron bombs were produced under Reagan's watch, none of which 128 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: were ever deployed in Europe. The warheads remained stockpiled in 129 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: the US until they were formally retired in nineteen ninety two. 130 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,079 Speaker 1: The decommissioning process dragged on for nearly two decades after, 131 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: but in twenty eleven, the last neutron bomb was finally dismantled. 132 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,959 Speaker 1: For those of you keeping track at home. That makes 133 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: several hundred nuclear weapons down and roughly thirteen thousand left 134 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: to go. I'm Gabe Louisier and hopefully you now know 135 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 136 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: If you enjoyed today's episode, consider keeping up with us 137 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can find us at 138 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 1: TEDI HC Show if you can also rate and review 139 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can send your 140 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: feedback directly by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 141 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, 142 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 143 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: again soon for another day in History class.