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The Department Of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

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The United States nuclear weapons complex is complicated and very large. Because of this, there are certain government agencies that help to regulate, or control, the nuclear weapons. Those agencies that have a role regarding the nation’s nuclear weapons are the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Commerce, Homeland Security, Department of State (DOS), and most importantly, the Department of Defense (DOD) (whitehouse.gov).

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is the principle U.S. Government agency responsible for the construction, design, and maintenance of U.S. nuclear weapons. The Department of Energy, which was established in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter as a response to an energy …show more content…

The Department of Defense is mainly responsible for overseeing the nation’s armed forces, including those military units that are specifically trained to operate nuclear weapons ad their specific delivery vehicles, which include missiles, bombers, and submarines that can deliver the weapons to their intended target. Residing within the Department of Defense are a series of unified commands, more specifically, the U.S. Strategic Command, which is based in Nebraska (dosfan.lib.uic.edu). This command is specifically responsible for coordinating the use of each branch of the armed forces (the Navy, Marines, Army, and Air Force) nuclear weaponry. During the Cold War, the U.S. developed the Triad, or the nuclear forces unique to each branch of the military. The Triad consists of the Air Force’s land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the Navy’s ballistic missile submarines (boomers, or SSBNs for short) as well as the manned bombers, which include the B-1, B-52, and B-2s) (stratcom.mil). The theory behind the creation the of the Triad was upon the notion of synergy wherein the difficulties inherent in planning an attack on each branch of the nuclear triad ensured their security against any type o coordinated attack. In other words, an adversary – the former Soviet Union – would not be able to cripple the U.S. …show more content…

companies seeking to ship goods to certain foreign destinations that have legitimate commercial applications, but which also have military uses. Many such items involve nuclear weapons technologies. Certain types of metals and electronic devices that can be used for seemingly benign purposes can also be used in the manufacture of nuclear warheads and ballistic and cruise missiles used to deliver those warheads to their targets (nrdc.org). It is the responsibility of the Commerce Department to examine all applications submitted by American companies to export sensitive items and either accept or reject those applications. It does not do this alone, as the Departments of Energy, Defense and State all play a role in that process as well, but Commerce is the lead agency and final arbiter

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