ABSTRACT
The nuclear powers, by retaining nuclear weapons, make an implicit claim that they can manage nuclear weapons safely, that is, with "adequate" safety. Of course, there are those who reject promises to handle nuclear weapons well and safely on the broad general ground that all complex human systems are subject to fault and unanticipated events. That is a serious objection, which advocates of nuclear weapon retention cannot reject out of hand. No accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon has been reported, but there have been a number of unwanted episodes in which nuclear weapons have been present. Moreover, the weapon managers are players in their own right, participants in their own countries' political assessment of denuclearization. It therefore matters how they discuss the retaining nuclear weapons, and how they respond to the calls for systematic study and modeling of denuclearization.
