THE EFFECTIVENESS AND FEASIBILITY OF LOW ENERGY LASERS IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS SECURITY

LOW-ENERGY LASER TECHNOLOGY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE EFFENCIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS SECURITY OPERATIONS. SUCH LASERS, EMPLOYED IN EITHER AUTOMATED OR REMOTELY MANNED CONFIGURATIONS, CAN SUPPLEMENT CURRENT PHYSICAL SECURITY MEASURES BY PROVIDING THREE NON-LETHAL RESPONSE OPTIONS: (1) WARN INTRUDERS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN DETECTED AND ARE ENTERING A SECURE AREA, (2) IMPEDE THE ADVANCE OF INTRUDERS WHO DO NOT RESPOND TO THE INITIAL WARNING, AND (3) IMPAIR THE ABILITY OF INTRUDERS TO FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY. LOW ENERGY LASER INTERACTIONS WITH INTRUDERS' EYES RANGING FROM HARMLESS GLARE AND FLASHBLINDING TO RETINAL HEMORRHAGE WITH MINIMAL RESIDUAL DAMAGE, CAN WARN INTRUDERS, DELAY THEIR ADVANCE THROUGH DISCOMFORT AND VISUAL INTERFERENCE, AND LIMIT THEIR ABILITY TO PERFORM VISUAL TASKS SUCH AS AIMING A GUN OR BREAKING INTO A WEAPON STORAGE BUILDING. IN THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES, INC. WILL EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL EFFECTIVENESS OF EMPLOYING LOW-ENERGY LASERS TO ENHANCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS SECURITY OPERATIONS AND DETERMINE THE CAPABILITY OF CURRENT LASER TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY HARDWARE. THESE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR DECIDING WHETHER TO PROCEED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TESTING OF A LASER SECURITY SYSTEM PROTOTYPE UNDER PHASE II.