Recapitalizing Nuclear Weapons (Walker Paper, Number 8)
Abstract
The US nuclear weapons stockpile is aging and undergoing an extensive and expensive life-extension program to ensure the continuing safety, security, and reliability of the legacy weapons well into the future. The current stockpile, designed to meet the security challenges of the Cold War (highly optimized systems that employ exotic materials with high yields), is not optimized to meet post-Cold War national security challenges. Today's challenge is to sustain and modernize the United States nuclear weapons infrastructure with minimal risk and cost. The following factors must be considered: 1. Technological advances brought about by the Stockpile Stewardship Program make it possible to design weapons that will be less expensive to build, can be certified without full-yield nuclear testing, employ modern surety technologies, and will be less costly to maintain over the long term. 2. Building replacement/new weapons will exercise and force the nuclear weapons production infrastructure to modernize to an extent not possible with the current life-extension program approach. 3. Scientists and engineers with experience in designing and building nuclear weapons are nearing retirement, and it is critical that the United States capture their experience and pass it to the next generation of weapons designers. 4. The "need" for nuclear weapons will increasingly be challenged and debated by the public and the Congress. With the Cold War over and questions arising regarding the utility of nuclear weapons to deter rogue states and nonstate actors, a clear vision on the need for nuclear weapons is required. 5. The federal budget is highly constrained for the foreseeable future and will likely result in fiat (inflation-only increases) or decreases to the nuclear budget.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA473474
Entities
People
- Edgar M. Vaughan