Download or read book Examining the Proper Size of the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile to Maintain a Credible U S Deterrent written by United States. Congress and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-14 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining the proper size of the nuclear weapons stockpile to maintain a credible U.S. deterrent : hearing before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, second session, special hearing, July 25, 2012, Washington, DC.

Download or read book Examining the Proper Size of the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile to Maintain a Credible U S Deterrent written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Examining the Proper Size of the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile to Maintain a Credible U S Deterrent written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tacit Knowledge TK Involvement in the Production of Nuclear Weapons written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-14 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preservation of nuclear weapon tacit knowledge has not previously been linked to maintaining a credible US nuclear deterrent. President Obama's 2009 Prague speech committing the US to seek a world without nuclear weapons, has yielded two policy debates: the necessary arsenal size and force configuration required to have a credible deterrent while following the Road to Global Zero nuclear weapons, and the potential feasibility of getting to zero due to shortcomings in monitoring and verification. Absent from these debates, and indeed missing from the discussions altogether, is the role of tacit knowledge about nuclear weapon design and development on the road to zero. The relationship between tacit knowledge and credible nuclear deterrence has yet to be examined. US weapons designed to last 10 years are now over 20 years old and projected to be maintained for several more decades while the last of the scientific community having actual experience designing and testing nuclear weapons are preparing for retirement. If both explicit and tacit knowledge are required in the knowledge transfer process, and all those with process knowledge retire, there will be no one left who has the tacit knowledge required for building a nuclear weapon in a timely fashion. In this paper, tacit knowledge is defined along with the relevance of tacit knowledge in creating a nuclear weapon and the need for nuclear tacit knowledge preservation and transfer in today's environment. An assessment of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory suggests that neither the working environment nor the data management system in place currently fosters tacit knowledge transfer or capture. Recommendations are offered as steps to enhance tacit knowledge preservation and transfer to support a credible nuclear deterrent through the next several decades until such time as the Road to Global Zero comes to an end or takes a critical detour. President Obama's 2009 Prague speech committing the US to seek a world without nuclear weapons, has yielded two policy debates: the necessary arsenal size and force configuration required to have a credible deterrent while following the Road to Global Zero nuclear weapons, and the potential feasibility of getting to zero due to shortcomings in monitoring and verification. Absent from these debates, and indeed missing from the discussions altogether, is the role of tacit knowledge (TK) about nuclear weapon design and development on the road to zero. This paper will address the increasingly important question of how to preserve nuclear weapon TK in a time when no testing has occurred in 20 years. The United States may plausibly forget how to make nuclear weapons before getting to any numerical thresholds or before the decision of who will get rid of the last nuclear weapons first occurs. US weapons designed to last 10 years are now over 20 years old and projected to be maintained for several more decades while the last of the scientific community who have actual nuclear weapon design and testing experience prepares for retirement. If both explicit knowledge (EK) and TK are required in the knowledge transfer process, and all those with process knowledge retire, there will be no one left who has the TK required for building a nuclear weapon in a timely fashion.

Download or read book Driving to Zero written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-04 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique study examines the issue of nuclear deterrence and disarmament. Nuclear deterrence, like climate change, is a devilishly complex issue that tends to polarize its community of experts. Disarmament advocates talk about the catastrophic dangers posed by large nuclear weapon stockpiles. Proponents discuss the inherent security advantages provided by nuclear deterrence. With some notable exceptions, attitudes among world leaders in the past 40 years tend to support reduced weapon stockpiles and policies to prevent proliferation. The U.S., by virtue of its large nuclear stockpile and stature as a global superpower, remains a leader for this issue. U.S. leadership has long stated a policy towards nuclear disarmament that is conditional on the world environment and preserving security of U.S. interests and allies. This policy has generated numerous proposals by various strategists to reduce the U.S. nuclear stockpile to levels well below the current force structure. Inevitably, each proposal generates considerable debate about the quantity of the reduction. This paper contends that quantity of reductions should not be the primary focus of debate. Rather proposals should be analyzed within the larger context of a chronological continuum with New START as the initial point and global zero as the end point. This approach aligns the entire community along the same framework and permits objective analysis of each proposal's stated deterrence objectives, how they derive credibility for these objectives, and implications to U.S. policy. Several proposals were examined in the paper to populate the continuum. The end result shows that the process of reducing the U.S. stockpile to low numbers will have profound implications to U.S. nuclear policy that have not been adequately discussed or tested. Debate over what the 'right' number of weapons is must shift to how the U.S. credibly drives to zero. On 5 April 2009, President Obama spoke at Hradcany Square in Prague and declared "So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." The President's speech and follow-on policy in the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review emphasized a renewed focus on reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal with a long-term goal of global nuclear disarmament. The New START Treaty, entered into force on February 5, 2011, was another tangible result of this focus on the 'road to zero.' While even the staunchest advocates admit total disarmament could take generations, if ever, these events imply a commitment to cut stockpiles that go far beyond previous arms control agreements and unilateral actions and have reenergized focus on various proposals for deeper reductions. Most of these proposals are essentially static analyses that claim deterrence would be preserved at some new stockpile threshold. Inevitably, strategists then spend considerable time arguing why the various thresholds either 'go too far' or 'don't go far enough.' With all due respect to the experts, I contend they are missing the point. Rather than supporting or tearing apart each new proposal based on subjective stockpile numbers, proposals should be evaluated dynamically along a chronological continuum. This framework accommodates the idea that various thresholds may be valid at different times. Thus, it becomes more important to evaluate proposals based on their stated deterrence objectives, how they derive credibility for these objectives, and implications to U.S. policy when aligned chronologically along the 'road to zero.' To examine this approach, I will use several proposals that are representative of different points along the continuum.

Download or read book The Future of U S Nuclear Weapons Policy written by Committee on International Security and Arms Control and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-07-01 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate about appropriate purposes and policies for U.S. nuclear weapons has been under way since the beginning of the nuclear age. With the end of the Cold War, the debate has entered a new phase, propelled by the post-Cold War transformations of the international political landscape. This volume--based on an exhaustive reexamination of issues addressed in The Future of the U.S.-Soviet Nuclear Relationship (NRC, 1991)--describes the state to which U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and policies have evolved since the Cold War ended. The book evaluates a regime of progressive constraints for future U.S. nuclear weapons policy that includes further reductions in nuclear forces, changes in nuclear operations to preserve deterrence but enhance operational safety, and measures to help prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. In addition, it examines the conditions and means by which comprehensive nuclear disarmament could become feasible and desirable.

Download or read book Nuclear Weapons in the U S National Security Policy written by Amy F. Woolf and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book U S Strategic Nuclear Forces written by Amy F. Woolf and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contents: (1) Introduction; (2) Background: The Strategic Triad: Force Structure and Size During the Cold War; Force Structure and Size After the Cold War; Future Force Structure and Size; (3) Strategic Nuclear Delivery Vehicles: Ongoing Plans and Programs: (a) Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles: Peacekeeper; Minuteman III; Minuteman Modernization Programs; Future Programs; (b) Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles: The SSGN Program; The Backfit Program; Basing Changes; Warhead Issues; Modernization Plans and Programs; Future Programs; (c) Bombers: B-1 Bomber; B-2 Bomber; B-52 Bomber; Future Bomber Plans; (4) Issues for Congress: Force Size; Force Structure; Safety, Security, and Management Issues. Illustrations.

Download or read book National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Evolving U S Nuclear Narrative written by Rebecca K.C. Hersman and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-28 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, it has become increasingly clear to many observers that the Department of Defense must better communicate to the officers at the tactical end of the nuclear mission a rationale for nuclear weapons and deterrence, the critical role that they play in the post–Cold War strategy of the United States, and the value of nuclear weapons to the security of the American people. This report tracks the changing conceptual and political landscape of U.S. nuclear deterrence to illuminate the gap in prioritizing the nuclear arsenal and to build a compelling rationale for tactical personnel explaining the role and value of U.S. nuclear weapons.

Download or read book Congressional Record written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 1290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

Download or read book The Future of Weapons of Mass Destruction an Update written by John P. Caves and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Daily Digest written by and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Future of the U S Soviet Nuclear Relationship written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States and the Soviet Union could drastically reduce their nuclear arsenals below the levels prescribed by the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The end of the Cold War and the transformation of international security now under way present the United States with opportunities to develop new policies based on greater international cooperation with the Soviet Union and other major powers. This new book describes two lower levels of nuclear forces that could be achieved, as well as other related measures to improve international security.

Download or read book No Use written by Thomas M. Nichols and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than forty years, the United States has maintained a public commitment to nuclear disarmament, and every president from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama has gradually reduced the size of America's nuclear forces. Yet even now, over two decades after the end of the Cold War, the United States maintains a huge nuclear arsenal on high alert and ready for war. The Americans, like the Russians, the Chinese, and other major nuclear powers, continue to retain a deep faith in the political and military value of nuclear force, and this belief remains enshrined at the center of U.S. defense policy regardless of the radical changes that have taken place in international politics. In No Use, national security scholar Thomas M. Nichols offers a lucid, accessible reexamination of the role of nuclear weapons and their prominence in U.S. security strategy. Nichols explains why strategies built for the Cold War have survived into the twenty-first century, and he illustrates how America's nearly unshakable belief in the utility of nuclear arms has hindered U.S. and international attempts to slow the nuclear programs of volatile regimes in North Korea and Iran. From a solid historical foundation, Nichols makes the compelling argument that to end the danger of worldwide nuclear holocaust, the United States must take the lead in abandoning unrealistic threats of nuclear force and then create a new and more stable approach to deterrence for the twenty-first century.

Download or read book The Current Status and Future Direction for U S Nuclear Weapons Policy and Posture written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Strategic Forces Subcommittee and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Absolute Weapon Revisited written by T. V. Paul and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the contemporary role of nuclear weapons in international relations