ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies three reasons for nuclear weapon production: the special nature of contracts for strategic weapon systems, the unique nature of strategic weapon research, and regional economic dependence on defense spending. While this chapter concentrates on the United States, to some degree all three of these reasons for inertia undoubtedly apply to France and Great Britain. However, the general attitude of politicians and community leaders toward regional defense spending tends to be just the reverse of the San Francisco case. In fact, in a statement that foreshadows the kind of struggle one can anticipate if large numbers of nuclear weapons and delivery systems are ever scrapped. Because contracts for nuclear weapons and delivery systems are so large and such a rich source of regional spending, even politicians whose political platforms make them leading Congressional doves find that they must support these weapons.
