Airstrip One

Fourth-Generation Nuclear Weapons - 10th December 2002, 22.14

This paper by Andre Gsponer in Disarmament Diplomacy ( a journal published online by The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy) examines recent developments in nanotechnology and microelectromechanical systems and how they can improve the accuracy and deployment of controlled low-yield nuclear explosives. He argues that these developments herald the entry of nuclear weapons to active conflict within the next few years providing greater destructive potential in a targeted area.

It is therefore important to realise that the technological hurdles that have to be overcome in order for laboratory scale thermonuclear explosions to be turned into weapons may be the only remaining significant barrier against the introduction and proliferation of fourth-generation nuclear weapons.

Of course, the answer of Acronym is to develop a new treaty banning the military deployment of such technologies and setting back the potential civilian uses by a number of years.