The Department of Energy's safeguards and security technology development program

Abstract

The Department of Energy has a program that develops technologies to protect sensitive nuclear weapons facilities for more than thirty years. The program is nowhere near as large as it used to be, but nevertheless exists to help operational security systems overcome technical deficiencies. The mission of the program is overwhelmingly diverse, as it must be to protect an array of assets such as nuclear weapons, special nuclear material in various forms, components of nuclear weapons, and classified nuclear weapons design information. Considering that the nuclear weapons complex consists of dozens of facilities that are scattered all over the United States, and that no two facilities are alike, the technology development mission is very challenging. Complicating matters further is the ever uncertain future of the DOE and the national security role that it will play. The paper provides some examples of dramatic departmental mission changes that directly impact the security technology development program.