Stewarding a Reduced Stockpile
The future of the US nuclear arsenal continues to be guided by two distinct drivers: the preservation of world peace and the prevention of further proliferation through our extended deterrent umbrella. Timely implementation of US nuclear policy decisions depends, in part, on the current state of stockpile weapons, their delivery systems, and the supporting infrastructure within the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). In turn, the present is a product of past choices and world events. Now more than ever, the nuclear weapons program must respond to the changing global security environment and to increasing budget pressures with innovation and sound investments. As the nation transitions to a reduced stockpile, the successes of the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) present options to transition to a sustainable complex better suited to stockpile size, national strategic goals and budgetary realities. Under any stockpile size, we must maintain essential human capital, forefront capabilities, and have a right-sized effective production capacity. We present new concepts for maintaining high confidence at low stockpile numbers and to effectively eliminate the reserve weapons within an optimized complex. We, as a nation, have choices to make on how we will achieve a credible 21st century deterrent.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 938507
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-CONF-403041; TRN: US200820%%136
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at: AAAS Technical Issues Workshop, Washington, DC, United States, Apr 24 - Apr 24, 2008
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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