ABQjournal: Bomb Designer Questions U.S. Nuclear PolicyBy John Fleck, Journal Staff Writer

The history of U.S. nuclear weapons policy looks to Richard Garwin like an alcoholic for whom the answer to any problem is another drink: “More nuclear weapons, please.”

To Garwin, the latest effort to design a new generation of nukes— the “Reliable Replacement Warhead”— has the appearance of another binge coming on.

The Reliable Replacement Warhead, Garwin told a packed audience Friday at the University of New Mexico, “is not necessary.”

This is no peacenik talking. Garwin, a physicist who helped design the first U.S. H-bomb, has advised the federal government on nuclear policy and technology for much of the past five decades. …

While no decision has been made to go beyond paper design studies, the managers of the National Nuclear Security Administration have quickly made the Reliable Replacement Warhead the centerpiece of their plans for the future. …

“The Reliable Replacement Warhead is the rage this year,” Garwin said during his UNM talk. …

Garwin said there was also no reason to think aging weapons posed greater risks of accidental detonation.

“There’s no question of safety,” he said. “Safety does not erode.”