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ST&NS -Opening Thoughts Science, Technology & National Security Early considerations: Historical definitions of national security* Scientists and the politics of national security -historical considerations Federal agencies, scientists, and national security
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ST&NS -Opening Thoughts Science, Technology & National Security Early considerations: Historical definitions of national security* Scientists and the politics of national security -historical considerations Federal agencies, scientists, and national security Politicians and the national security leverage of science & technology Cultural contrasts between scientists and national security staff • The balance between civilian and military development of technology for national security
STNS -Terms and Definitions • Science: the pursuit of knowledge that reveals the character of nature. • Technology: the exploitation of nature for individual or collective gain. • National security: domestic tranquility and the preservation of national interests at home and abroad.
A Premier Example of STNS: The Manhattan Project 1940-45 • Project triggered by letter from Einstein to FDR (1939). • Project driven by gathering of American and émigré European scientists. • Project funded and guided by American military and political leaders.
Scientific Understanding: Knowledge and the Root of Power Fission & Fusion Lise Meitner Otto Hahn Leo Szilard Edward Teller Stan Ulam Andrei Sakharov
Manhattan Project: The Fermi Reactor Inducing controlled fission http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/welcome/history/08_Chicago-reactor.html
The People Who Built the First Nuclear Reactor http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/welcome/history/08_chicago-reactor.html The scientists who worked on the project were back row, from left, Norman Hilberry, Samuel Allison, Thomas Brill, Robert Nobles, Warren Nyer, and Marvin Wilkening. Middle row, Harold Agnew, William Sturm, Harold Lichtenberger, Leona Marshall and Leo Szilard. Front row, Enrico Fermi, Walter Zinn, Albert Wattenber and Herbert Anderson.
Converting Scientific Knowledge Into Technological Power: the Manhattan Project (1940-45) • Identify fissile fuels. • Isolate fissile fuels in bomb-grade purity. • Assemble these fuels into a super-critical mass. • Deliver this technology to a target.
Manhattan Project: a Nation-wide Endeavor Hanford Los Alamos Oak Ridge
Manhattan Project: Acquiring the Fissile Fuel The K-25 plant, Oakridge http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Usa/Med/Med.html
Manhattan Project: First Test of “The Gadget.” http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/welcome/history/14_gadget-born.html
Manhattan Project: Testing the Design of an A-bomb http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Usa/Tests/Trinity.html
The Manhattan Project: Collaboration of Science With the Military http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Usa/Tests/Trinity.html
Manhattan Project: Two Bomb Designs, Fatman & Little Boy http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Usa/Med/Lbfm.html
The Manhattan Project: delivering the weapon Fatman dropped on Nagasaki -August, 1945 http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Usa/Med/Lbfm.html
Manhattan project: Technology & Public Policy Enrico Fermi Vannevar Bush Nagasaki, August 9, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer
From A-bomb to H-bomb: Technology and National Security in the Cold War The USA and the USSR, allies in WWII become adversaries The USSR explodes an atomic bomb (1949) American scientists explore the design of an H-bomb (1950-52) The USA and the USSR enter into a competition of nuclear weapons development
Testing the Theory; Building the Arsenal Science in pursuit of knowledge and influence upon national security policy
The Cold War -a Frenzy of Nuclear Weapons Testing Ivy Mike Test (1952) http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Usa/Tests/Ivy.html
Testing H-Bombs; Harvesting International Outrage USA, USSR, and Britain test weapons design in the atmosphere, in space, under water. Background radiation in parts of the world increase. Bravo test showers The Lucky Dragon with heavy fallout (1954). India, within the UN leads an initiative to end testing.
Other Nations, Other Testing NationFirst Nuclear Detonation USA 1945 USSR 1949 England 1952 France 1959 China 1964 India 1974 Pakistan 1998 South Africa ? Israel - Craig, Jungerman, Nuclear Arms Race, 1990.
Fallout & Detection of Nuclear ExplosionsThe Collision of Politics and Technology From 1945-1963, there are 650 test detonations of nuclear devices --most exploded in the atmosphere. In 1963, international fear of radio-active fallout prompts the LTBT. From 1963 to the present, a twilight struggle to ratify a CTBT ensues --and another 1100 nuclear detonations occur.
The Motivations for Testing Nuclear Weapons Stockpile stewardship Innovation Sustaining technical expertise Modernizing nuclear explosion detection systems Weapons effects Political
STNSThe Science & Technology of Stockpile Stewardship The explosive core in the primary of a nuclear weapon is plutonium. Plutonium decays (half-life = 24,100 years) 239Pu 235U + 4He Alpha particles induce crystal modifications within the core that reduce its explosive yield and the reliability of the weapon. Sidney Drell, et al, Science, 2/19/99.
The American Investment in a Nuclear Arsenal1945-2000 600,000 people work on the production of the arsenal Fuel production Warhead design and fabrication Design testing Physics package assembly Weapons assembly At a cost of $5.5 trillion , that is $5.5 x1012 C&E News, Vol. 78, p. 10, Feb 7, 2000.
STNSNuclear Weapons Testing: New Realities High-speed computing and microscopic ignition of fusion Growing global supplies of fissile fuel Underemployed weapons scientists Escalating regional conflict Global commerce Ease of information flow
STNSThe History of CTBT:The Collision of Political and Technological Thought 1956 - 1958 --Failed American Soviet negotiations 1958 - 1961 --Testing moratorium 1963 --The LTBT 1976 --The TTBT 1996 --The CTBTsigned 1999 --CTBT ratification not recommended by Senate
CTBTTechnology and Detection:The Hinge of the Dilemma CTBT is a ninety-nine page document, largely concerned with establishing and operating the International Monitoring System (IMS) IMS is a collection of 321 seismic, infrasound, hyroacoustic, and radio-nuclide sensors distributed among 89 nations and Antarctica Each nation will establish National Data Centers (NDC) and links to an International Data Centre (IDC), for purposes of sharing data
Big Government and Big Science The Science & Technology of CTBT
The Comprehensive Test Ban TreatyCTBT The purpose of CTBT is to discontinue experiments like this one C&E News, October 19, 1998
CTBTListening for Nuclear Explosions 50 Stations distributed World-wide http://www.ctbt.rnd.doe.gov/ctbt/introduction/infrasound_mon.html
CTBTSeismology and Detection of Nuclear Explosions Developing the algorithms and databases required for reliable detection at 167 stations Los Alamos and Livermore National Labs