Nuclear Weapons: Monitoring Warhead Dismantlement

Publication Date: November 1999

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Military and defense

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Abstract:

Concerned about the security of nuclear warheads in the former Soviet Union, the Clinton Administration sought ways to verify the elimination of non-deployed Russian warheads. One approach, directed by the U.S. Department of Energy, is to develop technologies to monitor the dismantlement of these warheads. Two constraints shape these technologies. Monitoring technologies must give inspectors sufficient confidence that a warhead is actually dismantled and that its components are not reused for new nuclear weapons. Yet, to protect nuclear weapon design information, inspectors must not be able to directly observe the disassembly of warheads or to conduct measurements on warheads that would reveal classified information. This report describes technologies for a possible nuclear warhead dismantlement regime between the United States and Russia. The report will be updated as appropriate.