Key Research Questions for Safe Nuclear Disarmament

The culture of nuclear weapons production gave inadequate attention to health, safety, and the environment. These concerns must be paramount as nuclear weapons are dismantled and destroyed. Patterns established by weapons facilities, where production, security, and secrecy have been the dominant values, undermine confidence in the ability of these institutions to make such a transition successfully. Major new research and policy agendas are required to ensure that approaches to nuclear disarmament are consistent with the larger purposes of the abolition paradigm.

1. Who are the appropriate people to conduct the necessary research; what credentials and training do they require; what affiliations should they have (or not have)?
2. How should independence be maintained and conflicts of interest be prevented?
3. What information already exists and who controls it? What information needs to be acquired through new research? Can access to all necessary information be ensured?
4. Can this body acquire and maintain trust among DOE employees and be assured of cooperation by current DOE contractors?
5. What specific knowledge would this body seek and from whom, and who should act on that knowledge once it is gathered?

1. What are the exposure risks of dismantling, handling, transporting, and securely storing nuclear weapons and their components? Which tasks require human contact?
2. What kinds of facilities are needed? Should new facilities be built or can existing DOE (or other) facilities be converted? Who should staff them?
3. In what form and by what means should nuclear materials be transported? What vehicles and what routes would minimize risks?
4. What material, in what form, is to be stored? Which materials are radioactive and which are toxic? Where, and for how long, should materials be stored, and in what form? How should radioactive and toxic materials be protected against diversion in a way that minimizes exposure risks?
5. What health protocols are appropriate for different tasks? What means might be employed to prevent exposure to radioactive or toxic materials? How frequently should workers be examined for potential exposure-related health problems? How should emergencies best be handled?
6. Will nuclear disarmament activities pose exposure risks to the public? What risks? How can they be kept to a minimum?
7. What is the appropriate balance between secrecy (to prevent diversion of nuclear materials) and openness (to provide workers and nearby communities with sufficient information about potential dangers)?
8. How do health, environment, and safety considerations change in a security context that does not depend on nuclear deterrence or require the production of nuclear weapons?
9. What measures are needed to ensure that concerns about safe nuclear disarmament are not used as an argument for resisting disarmament?

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