Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 8: Nuclear Weapons

AGA 8.1: Invited Talk

Friday, March 22, 2024, 09:30–10:30, PTB HS HvHB

Irreversible Elimination of Large Strategic Nuclear Weapons — •Robert Kelley — Distinguished Associate Fellow, SIPRI

Very large strategic nuclear weapons that threaten mankind depend on tritium boosting of their fission stages to produce the higher yield. If tritium is denied, the weapons will cease to work because natural radioactive tritium decay occurs. If no new production of civil tritium is allowed under a tritium production halt treaty, stockpiles will quickly begin to cease to function. About half of large weapons will be rendered useless every 12 years while tritium must be redistributed to the remaining devices. This reduces numbers of weapons, but it also makes existing nuclear war planning obsolete. Note that Ukraine gave up old Soviet weapons due to lack of tritium. Weapons without tritium are irreversibly deleted from the inventory if there is no new tritium. New weapons without tritium can be designed, of course, but the status quo will be destroyed until then.

Keywords: Nuclear weapons; Tritium production; Nuclear disarmament