Ethics, Scientists, Engineers and the Military - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 329

trying to prevent nuclear proliferation while the 'legal' nuclear powers are making
no moves to fulfi l their commitments to nuclear disarmament under the Non-
Proliferation Treaty.
Depleted uranium weapons were fi rst used in Iraq in 1991 and subsequently in
Yugoslavia, breaking a 46-year taboo on the intentional use or induction of radio-
activity in combat despite the fact that they do not have any signifi cant advantages
over tungsten in anti-tank weapons. In addition, they should be classifi ed as low radio-
logical impact nuclear weapons and not as conventional weapons (Gsponer 2003 ).
Chemical weapons (Walton 2008 ) use chemicals which can be widely dispersed
in gas, liquid or solid form, to infl ict death or harm on people. They may affect
others rather than the intended victims. Modern examples include nerve gas, tear
gas and pepper spray. Nerve agents are the most dangerous form of lethal unitary
chemical weapons that can be used on their own without mixing with other chemicals.
They include GA, GB, VX and blister agents based on sulphur mustard which are
liquid at room temperature and become gases when released. Pepper spray is
commonly used, including in a purely self-defensive role by individuals, and is
potentially lethal, but does not seem to have been used recently in war. Despite the
total ban, a number of states have stockpiles of chemical weapons, including nerve
agents. The largest-scale use of chemical weapons against combatants in the
twentieth century dates back to World War I and against civilians to the holocaust
(Walton 2008 ). The largest-scale use against an area populated by civilians was the
attack by Iraq against the Kurdish city of Halabja in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Iraq
war (Anon 2014a ). 3,200-5,000 were killed and 7,000-10,000 were injured, with
thousands more dying subsequently of complications, diseases and birth defects.
Multiple chemical agents were used, probably including sulphur mustard (mustard
gas), nerve agents and possibly hydrogen cyanide.
Biological weapons (Walton 2008 ) involve toxins, bacteria, viruses and other
pathogens that can be used as weapons. Their affects on human health vary from
mild allergic reactions to death. Although biological weapons have been used for
thousands of years, modern uses are fortunately rare, with the main example dating
back to World War II (Walton 2008 ). Some biological weapons can cause long-term
contamination. For instance, Gruinard Island in Scotland was contaminated by bio-
logical weapons test involving anthrax in 1942. It was eventually decontaminated in
1986 by spraying formaldehyde diluted in sea water over the total island surface
(fortunately only 196 ha) and removal of the worst contaminated top soil and fi nally
declared safe in 1990 (Anon 2014b ).

4.2 New Technologies

A number of new and newish technologies have potential military applications. One
example of this is nanotechnology or the design of engineering systems at the
molecular level. Its development was initially largely motivated by interest in very
rugged and safe arming and triggering mechanisms for atomic shells and other