Union of Concerned Scientists Senior Scientist Dr. Robert W. Nelson has written a new article criticizing the federal government's proposal to develop a new family of nuclear warheads—the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). In the article "If it Ain't Broke: The Already Reliable U.S. Nuclear Arsenal," published in this month's edition of Arms Control Today, Dr. Nelson argues that the program threatens to reorient the primary post-Cold War mission of U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories from stockpile maintenance to the development of new replacement warhead designs. Calling the program "premature and inherently risky," Dr. Nelson argues that the program will unnecessarily lead to the development of new nuclear warhead designs and therefore renewed demands that the United States resume underground nuclear explosive testing.

In March, Dr. Nelson also organized a workshop intended to clarify the technical aspects of the Department of Energy's Reliable Replacement Warhead program. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At this daylong event, senior scientists with expertise in nuclear weapons development from a variety of governmental and non-governmental institutions discussed both the advantages and limitations of the proposed RRW program, as well as the status of the current U.S. nuclear stockpile. The meeting marked the first expert, candid, unclassified exchange on the newly proposed RRW program.