See this thread for the same story including, in turn, a link to a story that
appeared in IEEE Spectrum very recently entitled "What About the Nukes?"
which gives the background to the "Stockpile Stewardship" program.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=43144
The timing of the announcement of this laser is unlikely to be a coincidence.
Behind this is a much larger political picture, some of which was taking place
this week when, on the eve of the G20 summit, where Obama and Medvedev pledged to
agree to cuts in their nuclear arsenals by December this year.
See Guardian article here -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...lear-relations