It’s a distortion of history to state, “the nuclear weapons program was sort of shoe-horned into the Department of Energy when the agency was created in the 1970s”, thus implying mismanagement on the part of the United States Congress.
Rather, the clear and primary intent of Congress was to maintain the nuclear weapons program under civilian control, where it had been since its inception in 1943. Indeed, records of deliberations from the 1970s show Congress explicitly chose to continue the nuclear weapons program under civilian control, rather than allow the DOD to take charge of this very critical mission.
At that time, DOD had the reputation of, all too frequently, selecting the most elaborate weapons system for a given mission, and then lobbying Congress vigorously for extra funding. Based on past history, it was believed the DOD would also engage in mission creep, proposing new weapons systems in order to meet ever more distantly perceived, if not altogether plausible, existential threats.
In the 1970s there were individuals and groups that did speak in favor of DOD control of America’s nuclear weapons program. Some of them argued the pace of development of new types of nuclear weapons was too slow, and that America’s national security was being put at risk. Nevertheless, both the executive and congressional branches of government believed that DOD should not be trusted with this critical mission.
The situation today is similar to that of the 1970s. Individuals and groups imply the DOE is incapable of efficiently managing America’s nuclear weapons program, and the DOD would do a better job. Indeed, it is likely the development of new nuclear weapons would proceed more quickly if the DOD was in charge. Advocates for the growth of the nuclear weapons program would certainly be in favor of such a change.
I don’t believe that such a change would be good for America.
Ken LaGattuta
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