Nonproliferation through international lab-to-lab technology cooperation
At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) one of the fastest growing programs as a result of the end of the Cold War is the Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and International Security Directorate (NAI). Since the early 1990's NAI types of programs have grown from a small percentage of LLNL's budget to constitute one of its major programs. NAI's work includes developing instruments to detect chemicals and radiation, analyzing complex national defense problems, anticipating threats to the US, and providing personnel to support national and international efforts in crisis management and arms control. These functions support the US government in dealing with weapons-of-mass-destruction challenges- proliferation, terrorism, and nuclear-state instability. To combat the rapidly emerging chem-bio-terrorism threats, NAI is drawing on LLNL's advanced technologies in bioscience, microfabrication, and computations to help the Department of Energy (DOE )provide major support to the US government. Half of NAI's effort is directed toward preventing proliferation before it starts, which is the mission of the Proliferation Prevention and Arms Control Program (PPAC). Until recently, our emphasis was on arms control. Now, arms control continues to be an important component while international cooperation and fissile material control are our dominant activities for the Department of Energy. Many of the post-Cold-War changes are highly visible, such as the elimination of nuclear testing by the United States, Russia, China and other major powers; agreements and continuing negotiations to dramatically reduce numbers of nuclear weapons; and increasing international focus on nonproliferation and counterterrorism. Other changes are less highly publicized but are no less significant. One such area is the increasing interactions between DOE Laboratory scientists and their counterparts in the nuclear weapons institutes of the former Soviet Union. Although the large majority of these Lab-to- Lab activities are currently with the FSU, that experience is leading to important and productive interactions with other countries and regions, most significantly, China and the Middle East. In contrast to the Cold War years, when most technologies developed at LLNL were solely for the US national defense efforts and therefore classified, many of NAI's new technologies and tools are unclassified and designed for use in a multilateral security environment. PPAC is the proliferation "Prevention" element of NAI's four-element "Prevention-Reversal-Response-Avoid Surprise" program. We direct some twenty different projects. which have realized about a factor of ten growth in the last four years.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nonproliferation and National Security (NN)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-Eng-48
- OSTI ID:
- 3849
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-131809; GC0404000; ON: DE00003849
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6th Beijing ISODARCO Seminar on Arms Control, Shanghai, China, October 28-November 2, 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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