Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2007 APS March Meeting
Volume 52, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 5–9, 2007; Denver, Colorado
Session H7: Nuclear Weapon Missions in the 21st Century |
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Sponsoring Units: FPS Chair: David Hafemeister, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University Room: Colorado Convention Center Korbel 4A-4B |
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
H7.00001: The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Program Invited Speaker: This paper will examine our plans for the future of the U.S. nuclear weapons program including efforts to ``transform'' the stockpile and supporting infrastructure. We proceed from the premise that the United States will need a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear deterrent for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Stockpile Stewardship Program is working. Today's stockpile---comprised of legacy warheads left over from the Cold War---is safe and reliable. That said, we see increased risk, absent nuclear testing, in assuring the \textit{long-term safety and reliability} of our current stockpile. Nor is today's nuclear weapons complex sufficiently ``responsive'' to fixing technical problems in the stockpile, or to potential adverse geopolitical change. Our\underline { task} is to work to ensure that the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise, including the stockpile and supporting infrastructure, meets long-term national security needs. Our \underline {approach} is to develop and field replacement warheads for the legacy stockpile---so-called Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRW)---as a means to transform both the nuclear stockpile and supporting infrastructure. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
H7.00002: Strategic Command's Role with Nuclear Weapons Invited Speaker: |
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
H7.00003: AAAS Assessment of the Role of the Reliable Replacement Warhead in the US Nuclear Weapons Complex Invited Speaker: The American Association for the Advancement of Science sponsored a study of the role of the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) in the US Nuclear Weapons Complex during the latter part of 2006. As the Chair of that study I will report our principal findings and recommendations. Our conclusions are based on the experience and knowledge of the committee members, the information available in numerous reports and related analyses, and on presentations and discussions with DOE/NNSA officials, staff members from the Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Laboratories, and others with special expertise and perspectives. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
H7.00004: What Are Nuclear Weapons For? Invited Speaker: Through the decades of the Cold War the prospect of a nuclear holocaust was all too real. With the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, that threat to civilization as we know it had receded. But today we face a grave new danger, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by hostile or unstable governments and terrorists. What can and should we be doing to meet this challenge and prevent the world's most dangerous weapons from falling into very dangerous hands? Are there any reasons for us to still retain thousands of nuclear warheads in our arsenals? What are they for? Can we rekindle the bold vision of a world free of nuclear weapons that President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev brought to their remarkable summit meeting at Reykjavik twenty years ago, and define practical steps toward achieving such a goal? [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
H7.00005: Nuclear Weapon Missions After the Cold War Invited Speaker: |
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