The future of nuclear weapon technology
The next few years will bring decisions that are critical for the future of the nation's nuclear weapons program and for the role of the national weapons laboratories. To meet this challenge, the United States needs to develop both a clear, cohesive, national-security strategy and a policy regarding the future role of nuclear weapons that are appropriate to rapidly evolving political and technical environments. The current weapons debate has been complicated by the controversy over the future of strategic defenses and by uncertainty over the role to be played by conventional forces and armaments. Other uncertainties have been introduced by nonmilitary security issues such as energy policy and the declining economic position of the United States with respect to other nations. Major national fiscal problems have placed severe constraints on defense spending. The nuclear weapons program itself suffers from a fragile and aging production and RandD complex, which has been further subjected to increasing demands arising from environmental, safety, and security concerns. Problems leading to shutdowns and power reductions in the DOE production reactors typify the situation, but concerns are even more widespread than those involving the reactors, both in the Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) and in the country as a whole. This paper will discuss what this means to the future of nuclear weapons technology. 1 fig., 1 tab.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6607898
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-100025; CONF-8806206-1; ON: DE89004808
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Conference on the future of nuclear weapons: the next three decades, Los Alamos, NM, USA, 6 Jun 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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