Nikola Tesla Books
The official phrases used in the Annex are deliberately vague in order to cover future unseen developments in the same category. Here is what they mean at the present level of development. 1. 2. 23 3. This is primarily a dispersion of plutonium or equally poisonous radio-active dust. The population can be virtually wiped out without any physical damage to property or land. Animals and vegetation would be affected. If materials with highly toxic radiation but short half-lives are used the net result would be similar to an ideal poison gas. A nuclear device can be designed to achieve this automatically. For nonnuclear warfare, dispersion can be accomplished as an explosive payload in a missile; sprayed from a cruise missile or by contaminating water supplies. Plutonium although most effective for this purpose, can render the affected areas unsafe for millenia.. This precludes occupation by the aggressor. For practical implementation therefore, intensely radio-active isotopes of much lighter elements would have to be manufactured on a reasonably large scale. This could quite easily be achieved by using a dedicated nuclear reactor for irradiation. This covers two kinds of weapon. Foremost is the neutron bomb and similar devices. The other is one form of the infamous "death ray" (the other main form of death ray is the laser). Technology, could in time, produce mobile and even hand gun versions of the machines now used for atom smashing. They would fire elemental sub-atomic particles like bullets from a super machinegun. The effect on human and animal targets would be to destroy the living tissue by ripping apart the individual molecules. High volume, ultra low frequency sound (i.e. below the threshold of human hearing) drives human beings and animals mad. It literally "interferes" with the overall coordination of mind and body. For very high volumes close to the targeted people, the body is reduced to pulp. This type of weapon, used in a less violent manner can insiduously incapacitate large populations without much physical destruction of property or overall loss of life. As a weapon for mass destruction in heavily populated areas it can be very effective. There is little possible in the way of defence against it. It is particularly suitable for urban guerilla warfare.
