The threat of another serious terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland has brought into focus the nation’s need to prepare for some of the worst cases imaginable – namely, the threats posed by nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, or in common parlance, WMD (weapons of mass destruction). The three WMD modalities pose distinct challenges, but they can be addressed from a common framework from which technical and operational commonalities can be exploited and priorities unique to each modality established. Drawing on nearly a decade of work by the Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board and the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee, the speaker will provide an example of such a framework and point out the technical challenges associated both generally in defending against WMD and uniquely with
each modality.
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The Science, Technology and Engineering Policy (STEP) student group at UC Berkeley is focused on creating better informed science and technology policy through collaborations between specialists in these two areas. As part of this mission, STEP works to help young scientists and aspiring policy makers educate themselves about science-policy issues and to create a forum for discussion among students and experts on these subjects. For more information on STEP visit http://step.berkeley.edu
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