VOA标准英语2011-Will Washington, Moscow Discuss Short-Ran

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty recently ratified¹ by the U.S. Senate deals only with long-range nuclear weapons.

Tactical nuclear weapons are often every bit as lethal² as the strategic nuclear warheads, but they are designed to be delivered over shorter distances. They include land and air-launched missiles with a range of less than 500 kilometers - so called "battlefield weapons."

Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, a private research firm, said it is difficult to say precisely³ how many tactical warheads Washington and Moscow have because there is no formal treaty governing such weapons.

"Independent estimates suggest that the United States may have several hundred tactical nuclear warheads, including about 180 at five European NATO bases - in Italy, Turkey, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium," said Kimball. "Russia is believed to have as many as 3,000 tactical nuclear bombs, but many of these are not in a condition to be used. Many are awaiting dismantlement⁴ or are in deep storage. And it is believed that the vast majority of those Russian tactical nuclear bombs are stored far away from their western border, from the European border."

Many experts believe a majority of Russia's tactical warheads are located on its eastern borders to compensate⁵ for what it perceives to be a nuclear threat from China.

Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a foundation focusing on nuclear weapons policy, said there is another reason for Moscow's vast superiority in tactical nuclear weapons.

"They [the Russians] have seen them, particularly since the end of the Cold War, as necessary to offset⁶ what they see as the conventional superiority of NATO and the United States," said Cirincione. "It is exactly the reverse of the situation we had during the Cold War where NATO fielded thousands of tactical nuclear weapons to offset what they thought were the superior Soviet⁷ tank armies."

Cirincione says Moscow's great number of tactical nuclear weapons is a throwback to the Cold War.

"It is still this kind of thinking that, one - there is actually an opponent here that poses a real military threat to you, even though Russia and NATO are no longer adversaries," said Cirincione. "And it is also this idea that somehow you can use nuclear weapons in a battlefield condition, that you would use these on your own territory to repulse⁸ an opponent's attack. That is why you are seeing in most other countries a shift away from this kind of doctrine⁹, of militaries caring less and less about nuclear weapons, thinking that they are basically unusable for any modern military purpose - Russia is still clinging to this Cold War doctrine."

Many experts, including Daryl Kimball, believe tactical nuclear weapons are more of a liability than an asset and they also pose a specific security risk.

"Because these weapons are smaller in physical size, they are more easily transported, they are less secure," said Kimball. "We do not know whether Russia has all of its tactical nuclear weapons fully¹⁰ secured and fully accounted for. So over the long term, these weapons do represent a nuclear terrorism risk and the best way to deal with that risk is to account for and eventually eliminate these obsolete¹¹ weapons of the 20th century."

Tactical nuclear weapons were not part of the New START treaty recently ratified by the U.S. Senate - it deals with long-range strategic nuclear warheads delivered by heavy bombers¹² and submarines or fired from underground silos.

Cirincione points out, though, that tactical nuclear weapons were brought up during Senate deliberations.

"One of the unintended benefits of the START ratification¹³ debate in the Senate, was that there now is a Senate mandate¹⁴, pushed by the Republicans, but gladly supported by the Democrats¹⁵, for the president to start negotiating a tactical nuclear weapons reduction treaty within a year [of the New START treaty entering into force]," said Cirincione. "The president is happy to do so."

The Obama administration has made reducing nuclear weapons worldwide a priority foreign policy issue. Experts say the New START treaty is an important step forward. Now analysts say Washington and Moscow must focus their attention on other categories of nuclear warheads, beginning with tactical nuclear weapons

1 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

2 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

3 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

4 dismantlement   

拆卸，拆除的行动或状态

参考例句：

• All construction, dismantlement and reinstatement works shall be completed before May2006. 所有建造、卸及修复工程均须在二零零六年五月前完成。
• The law stipulates modes for company merger, dismantlement, bankruptcy, dissolution and liquidation. 该法规定了公司合并、分立、破产、解散和清算的方式。

5 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 repulse   

n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝

参考例句：

• The armed forces were prepared to repulse any attacks.武装部队已作好击退任何进攻的准备。
• After the second repulse,the enemy surrendered.在第二次击退之后，敌人投降了。

9 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

12 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

14 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》