Los Alamos Study Group hosts nuclear weapons talk with Theodore Postol
Theodore Postol will speak virtually at SALA on nuclear weapons effects as Los Alamos weighs pit production, deterrence and cleanup.
The Los Alamos Study Group is bringing Theodore Postol to the SALA Event Center on Tuesday, July 14, for a 6:30 p.m. virtual presentation on nuclear weapons effects, followed by questions and discussion. The talk will be held at 2551 Central Ave., in a county venue described as a member-supported cinema and community space, placing a debate about nuclear policy in the middle of town rather than inside the lab fence.
That setting matters in Los Alamos, where nuclear weapons are not an abstraction. Los Alamos National Laboratory says its core responsibility is national security through nuclear deterrence, and the lab reported a $4.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2023. Congress charged Los Alamos with producing 30 plutonium pits a year by 2026, but by last year the lab had produced just one approved for the stockpile. Roughly 500,000 cubic meters of legacy waste remain on the LANL campus, keeping cleanup and weapons production tied together in the county’s civic conversation.
Postol brings a long record in that same policy world. He studied physics as an undergraduate and nuclear engineering in graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then worked at Argonne National Laboratory, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Pentagon and Stanford. MIT says he received the Leo Szilard Prize in 1990, the Hilliard Roderick Prize in 1995 and the Norbert Wiener Award in 2001. MIT and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists describe him as a leading expert on nuclear weapon systems, ballistic missiles and missile defense.
The Los Alamos Study Group, founded in 1989 and based in Albuquerque, says it focuses on nuclear disarmament, environmental protection, social justice and economic sustainability. The group has also been meeting in Los Alamos on Tuesdays to discuss current nuclear issues, speak to County Council and stay in touch with residents, giving it an ongoing local presence beyond one night at SALA.
For residents, the July 14 program is a chance to press on the questions that shape life in a laboratory town: how weapons effects are measured, how public accountability works when the lab’s mission is national security, and how competing expert views should be weighed when Los Alamos decisions carry consequences far beyond Central Avenue.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
