International Nuclear Control in a Global Technology Environment: Effectiveness and Challenges
Joan Woodard, EVP and Deputy Laboratories Director, Sandia National Laboratories
October 7, 2008 @ 5:30 pm -7:30 pm, UT Club, President's Room West
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To see the article in the Daily Texan covering the event, please click here.
The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law welcomed Dr. Joan Woodard to the University of Texas Club on October 7, 2008, where the Executive Director and Deputy Laboratories Director at Sandia National Laboratories discussed the past, present and future challenges of international nuclear control.
Dr. Woodard began the discussion with an overview of the current nuclear landscape today, both in nuclear weaponry and nuclear energy capability. She outlined the growing demand for nuclear energy, noting that the United Nations reports that approximately 40 nations without nuclear energy programs have approached it in recent years about acquiring domestic nuclear energy capabilities. Dr. Woodard highlighted the implications of increased use of nuclear energy, namely the challenge of ensuring that this technology is not used for the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
With respect to the problem of controlling nuclear arms technology, Dr. Woodard suggested that the two dimensions of nuclear control hinged on the technology itself – raw materials, fissile materials, fuel by-products – and the market that is seeking it, especially the nuclear “black market.” She then went on to provide a brief history of nuclear control efforts, commenting on the historical merits of using bilateral agreements, regional alliances and/or more coercive, “carrot and stick” approaches in order to convince nations to end their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.
During the question and answer session, Dr. Woodard addressed a number of questions on nuclear control, ranging from the balance of research funding between non-proliferation efforts and nuclear weapon design to the legality of the efforts of A.Q. Khan. On the question of the future threat of nuclear “cascading,” she stressed the importance of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear infrastructure and denying Iran a nuclear capability.
Joan Woodard spoke on the challenges of nuclear control.
An attentive audience of students, faculty and community members attended the lecture.
After her presentation, Woodard took questions from the audience.
Dr. Woodard’s role at Sandia National Laboratories includes oversight of engineering support and design to the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile; research, development and testing services; and the manufacture of specialized non-nuclear products and components for national defense and security applications. Dr. Woodard also chairs the Laboratories’ management council for the Nuclear Deterrent. She serves on a number of advisory boards, included the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and is a lifetime member of the Society of Women Engineers.
This presentation is part of the Strauss Center’s Technology, Innovation and Global Security Speaker Series, which brings world-renowned experts to campus to discuss how to sustain innovation and better utilize modern technology to benefit an increasingly global economic and social system.
The Strauss Center is nonpartisan and takes no institutional position on any issue. All statements of fact and all expressions of opinion at Center events are the sole responsibility of the speaker.
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