develop new products and processes that make the chemical industry inherently more secure. Once again, mitigation and decontamination procedures require the attention of chemists and engineers.

Countries and groups that lack access to nuclear weapons may still have opportunities to obtain radioactive materials such as spent nuclear fuel. A bomb in which a conventional explosive charge causes dispersal of radioactive material is known as a “dirty bomb.” Such a device could result in psychological effects exceeding the physical damage it caused. Once again, new techniques are needed for detection (of both the explosive and radioactive material), and decontamination procedures would be essential if such a device were used.

Research by chemists and chemical engineers will be needed for the development of new analytical techniques to detect nuclear proliferation threats and treaty violations. This will require establishing the characteristic signatures of both production and testing of weapons. Detection of these signatures will depend on chemical spectroscopy techniques, and advances in remote sensing.

Within the context of the U.S. weapons programs, the ban on testing nuclear weapons requires that other methods be developed to ensure the safety and reliability of existing weapons. As part of the stockpile stewardship program, it will be necessary to understand—through laboratory experiments and via computer simulation and modeling—the long-term changes that could affect the performance of the weapons in the stockpile. These include chemical effects such as corrosion as well as the results of self-irradiation on both nuclear and nonnuclear components of the weapons. What are the aging processes and their consequences on various components—including high explosives, electronics, and mechanical—and how will this affect performance? Successful modeling will require fundamental understanding of materials over all length scales and of their chemical behavior under extremes of temperature and pressure.

Bombings have long been a central threat from terrorism, and several major bombing attacks have been carried out in the United States over the last decade. Two earlier reports from the National Research Council outlined a number of opportunities for technical contributions by chemical scientists.³ The recommen-

Front Matter (R1-R14)

Executive Summary (1-10)

1 Introduction (11-15)

2 The Structures and Cultures of the Disciplines: The Common Chemical Bond (16-21)

3 Synthesis and Manufacturing: Creating and Exploiting New Substances and New Transformations (22-40)

4 Chemical and Physical Transformations (41-54)

5 Isolating, Identifying, Imaging, and Measuring Substances and Structures (55-70)

6 Chemical Theory and Computer Modeling: From Computational Chemistry to Process Systems Engineering (71-94)

7 The Interface with Biology and Medicine (95-122)

8 Materials by Design (123-147)

9 Atmospheric and Environmental Chemistry (148-159)

10 Energy: Providing for the Future (160-170)

11 National and Personal Security (171-179)

12 How To Achieve These Goals (180-194)

Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Steering Committee Members (195-201)

Appendix B: Statement of Task (202-202)

Appendix C: Contributors (203-208)

Index (209-224)