In considering the future of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, the government must decide between two basic courses of action, explains a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service: either it must seek to extend the functional lifetime of existing nuclear weapons, or it must develop a new generation of warheads.
The CRS report compares and contrasts the pros and cons of these two options.
Another potential option, abolition of nuclear weapons, is not considered by the CRS, since “it has garnered no support in Congress or the Administration.”
The CRS does not make its products directly available to the public. A copy of the new report was obtained by Secrecy News.
See “Nuclear Warheads: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program and the Life Extension Program,” December 13, 2006.
Some other notable recent reports from the CRS include the following (all pdf).
“The Military Commissions Act of 2006: Analysis of Procedural Rules and Comparison with Previous DOD Rules and the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” October 12, 2006.
“FY2007 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security,” updated October 6, 2006.
“Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF),” October 18, 2006.
“Uganda: Current Conditions and the Crisis in North Uganda,” October 20, 2006.
In anticipation of future known and unknown health security threats, including new pandemics, biothreats, and climate-related health emergencies, our answers need to be much faster, cheaper, and less disruptive to other operations.
To unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence within the Department of Health and Human Services, an AI Corps should be established, embedding specialized AI experts within each of the department’s 10 agencies.
Investing in interventions behind the walls is not just a matter of improving conditions for incarcerated individuals—it is a public safety and economic imperative. By reducing recidivism through education and family contact, we can improve reentry outcomes and save billions in taxpayer dollars.
The U.S. government should establish a public-private National Exposome Project (NEP) to generate benchmark human exposure levels for the ~80,000 chemicals to which Americans are regularly exposed.