Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme

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AKA: Arbeitskreis Physik und Abrüstung

AKA 2: Nuklearwaffenentwicklungen

AKA 2.1: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 29, 2007, 09:30–10:30, H45

The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program and the Future of the US Nuclear Stockpile — •Robert Nelson — Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge/Mass.

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed to develop a new family of nuclear warheads intended to replace the current US nuclear arsenal over the next several decades. DOE says these Reliable Replacement Warheads can be developed without requiring underground nuclear testing, while being more reliable and less costly to maintain than current warheads.

In fact, the RRW program makes little technical or political sense: there is no reliability problem with the warheads in the current US nuclear stockpile.Introducing new and untested designs could decrease confidence in warhead reliability. Regardless of the technical feasibility, there will be tremendous political pressure to test any new design before a new weapon enters the stockpile. A resumption of underground nuclear testing would end the testing moratorium the United States and Russia have maintained since 1992.