The UT Science Forum continued Friday with a presentation from Howard Hall, professor of nuclear engineering, on the global challenges to nuclear weapon security.
Hall was the third professor selected in the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair program, a state-funded objective to hire the most experienced researchers in the field.
Hall earned his Ph.D in nuclear chemistry, worked in a nuclear laboratory and as a professor of chemistry at University of California, Berkeley, before joining the UT faculty.
“We take a very broad view when it comes to nuclear security,” Hall said. “We must ensure nuclear weapons are safe, secure and a few.
“Research is always ongoing to improve strategies to ensure the safety, traceability and reduction of nuclear threats,” Hall said.
“The bad things that happen when these things are misused are preventable,” Hall said. “One of the things we can do to make sure there are few is to deny others the ability to obtain nuclear weapons.”
However, over time it has become easier for countries to begin developing nuclear weapons. Hall said nine countries now have nuclear capabilities and “we are on the verge of the 10th with Iran.”
Hall believes researchers must focus on locating these risks, tracing and eliminating them to provide security for the U.S.
“We need to be able to find those threats, should they get into the U.S.,” Hall said. “If we ever find a nuclear bomb sitting somewhere and we get to it before it goes off, we want to be able to find out exactly where it came from.”
Hall also identifies the fast-paced economy’s vulnerability to the threat of nuclear weapons, particularly in searching cargo ships for nuclear material.
“Our economy has moved into a just-in-time delivery mode,” Hall said. “If the port of L.A. beach was shut down for a week, Walmart would go out of business. That’s amazing.”
Popular concerns with nuclear capabilities focus on different countries and leaders around the world. Hall points out that these are not the country’s only concerns.
“There have been real cases of nuclear material found on the black market,” Hall said.
As far as the future of nuclear security, Hall said steps are being taken to further the goals of protecting and strengthening that security.
“The question is how can we tomorrow measure, track and secure strategic material and nuclear weapons,” Hall said. “The key is we depend on people.”
Mark Littmann, UT Science Forum program chairman, believes the Governor’s Chair program has been effective in bringing in distinguished scientists.
“I know Dr. Hall has high-level security clearance. I just wish he could share with us more of what he knows about the nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea. I would promise not to tell,” Littmann joked.
The UT Science Forum is held Fridays at noon in dining rooms C-D of Thompson-Boling Arena.