From the Blogs
Transcript of 1954 Oppenheimer Hearing Declassified in Full: The
transcript of the momentous 1954 Atomic Energy Commission hearing that
led the AEC to revoke the security clearance of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
the physicist who had led the Manhattan Project to produce the first
atomic bomb, has now been fully declassified by the Department of
Energy. The Oppenheimer hearing was a watershed event that signaled a
crisis in the nuclear weapons bureaucracy and a fracturing of the early
post-war national security consensus.
W80-1 Warhead Selected For New Nuclear Cruise Missile:
The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Council has selected the W80-1 thermonuclear
warhead for the Air Force’s new nuclear cruise missile (Long-Range
Standoff, LRSO) scheduled for deployment in 2027. The W80-1 warhead is
currently used on the Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), but will be
modified during a life-extension program and de-deployed with a new
name: W80-4. Under current plans, the ALCM will be retired in the
mid-2020s and replaced with the more advanced LRSO, possibly starting in
2027. The estimated cost of the program is between $10-20 billion, but
the military argues that a new nuclear standoff weapon is needed to
spare a new penetrating bomber from enemy air-defense threats.
Insider Threat Program May Not Be Ready by 2017: Security
policies in the executive branch are being overhauled in response to a
potential “insider threat.” But while some progress is being made, the
intended functionality will not be available for several more years to
come. The insider threat includes “the threat of those insiders who may
use their authorized access to compromise classified information.” Last
week, the Department of Defense finally issued an internal directive
establishing department policy on the subject. However, the timetable
for achieving a government-wide insider threat program does not envision
an Initial Operating Capability until January 2017.
Ebola Outbreak: Select Legal Issues and More from CRS: Secrecy
News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as legal
issues related to the Ebola outbreak and the basics of the disease, inspectors general with guns and Syria's chemical weapons.
Report on Disclosures to the Media is Classified: A report to Congress on authorized disclosures of classified intelligence to the media — not unauthorized
disclosures — is classified and is exempt from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act, per the National Security Agency. Steven
Aftergood writes that the notion of an authorized disclosure of
classified information is close to being a contradiction in terms. If
something is classified, how can its disclosure be authorized (without
declassification)? And if something is disclosed by an official who is
authorized to do so, how can it still be classified?
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FAS in the News
- Oct 13: Scientific American, "Atomic Reporters Curbs 'Egregious' Coverage Of Nuclear Perils"
- Oct 11: New York Times, "Transcripts Kept Secret For 60 Years Bolster Defense Of Oppenheimer's Loyalty"
- Oct 11: Los Angeles Times, "Does The 'N' In NSA Stand For Nonsense?"
- Oct 10: Daily Beast, "Congress Scouring Every U.S. Spy Program"
- Oct 9: Wired, "NSA Mind-Bender: We Won't Tell You What Info We Already Leaked To The Media"
- Oct 9: The Hill, "NSA: List Of Official Leaks To The Media Is Classified"
- Oct 8: Associated Press, "New Manhattan Project Director Documents Released"
- Oct 7: E&E Publishing, "Not Just Paper Pushers, IGs Carry Guns, Go Undercover"
- Oct 6: Nextgov, "DOE Declassifies Oppenheimer Security Clearance Hearing Transcripts"
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