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Title: The Security of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal: The Human Factor

Abstract

Assertions by the Russian military that all of their nuclear weapons are secure against theft and that nuclear units within the military are somehow insulated from the problems plaguing the Russian military should not be accepted uncritically. Accordingly, we should not give unwarranted credence to the pronouncements of military figures like Cal.-Gen. Igor Valynkin, Chief of the Defense Ministry's 12th Main Directorate, which oversees the country's nuclear arsenal. He contends that ''Russian nuclear weapons are under reliable supervision'' and that ''talk about the unreliability of our control over nuclear weapons has only one pragmatic goal--to convince international society that the country is incapable of maintaining nuclear safety and to introduce international oversight over those weapons, as it is done, for example, in Iraq.'' While the comparison to Iraq is preposterous, many analysts might agree with Valynkin's sanguine appraisal of the security of Russia's nuclear weapons. In contrast, I argue that the numerous difficulties confronting the military as a whole should cause concern in the West over the security of the Russian nuclear arsenal.

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP) (US)
OSTI Identifier:
790265
Report Number(s):
UCRL-JC-136014
TRN: US200206%%76
DOE Contract Number:  
W-7405-Eng-48
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: Program on New Approaches to Russian Security, Washington, DC (US), 11/05/1999; Other Information: PBD: 12 Oct 1999
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE; 98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION; HUMAN FACTORS; IRAQ; NUCLEAR WEAPONS; RADIATION PROTECTION; SECURITY; THEFT

Citation Formats

Ball, D Y. The Security of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal: The Human Factor. United States: N. p., 1999. Web.
Ball, D Y. The Security of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal: The Human Factor. United States.
Ball, D Y. 1999. "The Security of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal: The Human Factor". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/790265.
@article{osti_790265,
title = {The Security of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal: The Human Factor},
author = {Ball, D Y},
abstractNote = {Assertions by the Russian military that all of their nuclear weapons are secure against theft and that nuclear units within the military are somehow insulated from the problems plaguing the Russian military should not be accepted uncritically. Accordingly, we should not give unwarranted credence to the pronouncements of military figures like Cal.-Gen. Igor Valynkin, Chief of the Defense Ministry's 12th Main Directorate, which oversees the country's nuclear arsenal. He contends that ''Russian nuclear weapons are under reliable supervision'' and that ''talk about the unreliability of our control over nuclear weapons has only one pragmatic goal--to convince international society that the country is incapable of maintaining nuclear safety and to introduce international oversight over those weapons, as it is done, for example, in Iraq.'' While the comparison to Iraq is preposterous, many analysts might agree with Valynkin's sanguine appraisal of the security of Russia's nuclear weapons. In contrast, I argue that the numerous difficulties confronting the military as a whole should cause concern in the West over the security of the Russian nuclear arsenal.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/790265}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 12 00:00:00 EDT 1999},
month = {Tue Oct 12 00:00:00 EDT 1999}
}

Conference:
Other availability
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