Physicists grapple with their role as stewards of the United States’ aging nuclear weapons in the new book by Sarah Scoles.
The United States is on a mission to modernize its aging nuclear weapons stockpile. And physicists have feelings about it — and the future of nuclear weapons more broadly., science writer Sarah Scoles dredges up all the feels in interviews with physicists at the national laboratories dedicated to maintaining the U.S. nuclear stockpile and with researchers, activists and others who orbit that lab system.
Yet some activists oppose the pit production and other modernization efforts — the details of which are classified and thus unknown to the public. While proponents see updating the weapons as essential to shore up the deterrent, others think the deterrent is effective as is and worry modernizing could kick off a dangerous arms race.also delves into the history and culture of the national labs focused on nuclear work.
At times the book leaves the reader craving more scientific details, perhaps unavoidable when dealing with a classified subject. But some topics are glossed over more than necessary. The discussion of quantum computing — a technology that might eventually be useful for simulating nuclear weapons — is so abbreviated as to be confusing.
Throughout the book, Scoles highlights the deep connections that run between basic scientific research and nuclear applications. The conditions in an atomic bomb are similar to those elsewhere in the universe, such as in exploding stars. That means that even physicists who set out to reveal basic features of the universe might inadvertently advance knowledge about nuclear weapons. Like it or not, physics and nuclear weapons are inseparable.
The researchers Scoles profiles hope that, by understanding nuclear weapons better, we might protect ourselves from them. One research team aims to improve the detection of nuclear blasts, making it easier to verify that other countries aren’t setting them off. But such knowledge could also teach a government how to hide its own tests from prying eyes. Like so much else in nuclear weapons research, there are two sides.
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