The U.S Army Emerging Nuclear Weapons Policies Programe

The World Security Institute hosted a conference on the future of U.S. and other countries’ nuclear arsenals.
“Emerging Nuclear Weapons Policies: An Opportunity to Increase Dialogue,” held Oct. 12-13, 2006, allowed for a free and honest discussion about the state of U.S. nuclear weapons programs and ways in which it could proceed in the future. Among the conference’s nearly 40 participants were representatives from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and former heads of the laboratories in charge of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

 Presentations took a broad look at the major issues facing U.S. and other nuclear powers’ programs. Participants discussed new and traditional security threats to Russia and the United States; perspectives on new arrangements for nuclear weapons and missile defense; U.S. concepts for nuclear weapons modernization; reform of military nuclear industries in the United States; challenges of nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, and the maintenance of arsenals in major nuclear powers in the absence of nuclear testing.

Particularly controversial were discussions on what exactly the United States intends to do with its proposed Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program. While the program is ostensibly being promoted as a way to ensure the dependability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, there are many experts who fear that it may lead to a whole new series of nuclear weapons and even prompt the return by the United States to nuclear testing something which hasn’t happened since 1992.

Along those lines, many of the participants were concerned about how the nuclear laboratories should respond to the challenge of keeping their work forces interested and fully engaged despite the lack of nuclear
testing. Much of the debate also centered on North Korea’s nuclear test, held just three days prior to the conference. North Korea’s likely entry to the nuclear club raised concerns that U.S. policy is on the wrong path and prompted debate on what this means for international accords that attempt to prevent nuclear proliferation.

The keynote speaker was Thomas Graham, special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for Russian Affairs at the National Security Council. His speech focused on U.S.-Russian relations. While admitting that they had seen better times, he optimistically predicted that there were many ways for future cooperative efforts to prevent the further spread of nuclear materials. Overall, it was a captivating
discussion between some of the top minds shaping the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. It even included
some Russian and Chinese observers who were able to add their views to the dialogue. Many of the presentations are posted on CDI’s website with the hopes of sharing the expertise that was brought to the table and continuing the discussion.