The R&D of nuclear weapons in the US has become a profit-making business, managed at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories by a for-profit entity led by Bechtel Corp. So it may seem fitting that nuclear diplomacy also be conducted more by private individuals. Could observations made by such individuals—in North Korea, say, and at that country’s behest—inadvertently renew fears of North Korean nuclear aggression and lead to political pressure for more US weapons R&D? In that context, Sig Hecker fails to mention that he was a signatory to a 2010 letter, also signed by nine other former directors of our nuclear weapons labs, criticizing the Obama administration’s Nuclear Posture Review for being too restrictive of continuing R&D on nuclear weapons. Is Hecker really describing a new form of “scientific nuclear diplomacy,” or is he advocating for more politicization of the already difficult politics of nuclear weapons?
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
February 01 2012
Discussions in scientific nuclear diplomacy
Ken LaGattuta
Physics Today 65 (2), 8–9 (2012);
Citation
Ken LaGattuta; Discussions in scientific nuclear diplomacy. Physics Today 1 February 2012; 65 (2): 8–9. https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1413
Download citation file:
267
Views
Citing articles via
Related Content
Discussions in scientific nuclear diplomacy
Physics Today (February 2012)
Discussions in scientific nuclear diplomacy
Physics Today (February 2012)
Adventures in scientific nuclear diplomacy
Physics Today (July 2011)
Discussions in scientific nuclear diplomacy
Physics Today (February 2012)
US scientists step up their efforts at diplomacy
Physics Today (February 2010)