Materials Science and Nonproliferation: Scientists Influence National Policy
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Materials Science and Nonproliferation: Scientists Influence National Policy When I accepted the position of the 1997 Materials Research Society/Optical Society of America Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow in the office of Edward ). Markey (D-MA), one of my first tasks was to coordinate the creation and development of a Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation. Our inaugural meeting featured former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev speaking about his Cold War memories to a room that was packed to overflowing. The next event was a "Codeword Clearance" CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) briefing on China's nonproliferation record, and a later highlight was the Washington, DC preview of the movie Peacemaker, with free tickets for congressional members and their key staff, and a reception with the "real-life" Nicole Kidman (Jessica Stern, a Fellow at the National Security Council at the time of the events covered in the movie) and George Clooney (a composite of various players). As I delved deeper into the issues and legislation surrounding nonproliferation, I began to realize how important a role materials science and engineering plays. Materials scientists or engineers influence more than federal funding for research and development; they have an impact on U.S. science and technology policies, which often play a defining role in national policy. Consider some of the current nonproliferation issues facing the country: • Disposition of excess weapons plutonium. As the START treaties are implemented, both the United States and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) will be dismantling their nuclear weapons. Both countries have experienced challenges and difficulties in keeping the excess weapons materials secure in the post-Cold War world, and the faster they are converted into a proliferation-resistant form, the better. In December 1996, the Clinton Administration announced a dual-track approach to disposing of weapons plutonium. Some would be vitrified and buried, and some would be converted to a mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and burned in civilian nuclear reactors prior to deep underground burial. Controversy surrounds the issue, since the FSU is unlikely to accept vitrification alone as a viable option, but many U.S.
government officials and scientific experts believe that creating a civilian economic value for plutonium by burning MOX fuel would pose a proliferation risk itself, and this second method appears to be far more expensive. Materials science will be vital to either track pursued: Purifying the plutonium and converting it into a ceramic form will be necessary for both vitrification and the MOX option, and materials scientists will need to design glasses that will safely encase the materials for tens of thousands of years if the vitrification track is chosen. • Detection of biological and chemical agents. At press time, Saddam Hussein has again renegotiated procedures with United Nations inspectors after denying them access to Iraqi facilities, and the United Nations and U.S. Pentagon among other experts believe
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