Letters Stewardship The issue not raised in David Hafemeister's survey of stewardship (P&S, July,2004) is, does the cost justify the diplomatic gains? I estimate that stewardship costs about $4 billion/year, plus of course the cost in good minds tied up in simulating warheads that could be tested every few years for ~$100 million. For the difference we could send a manned expedition to Mars in a decade or two! Which is more significant? And of course our abstinence has no effect on the spread of weapons. In the time since we stopped testing, Pakistan and India have tested, and North Korea has developed warheads. Face it: other nations do not much care if we test; after over a thousand tests, it is a finished issue. None of this seems to permeate our decisions. Gregory Benford
PhysicsUC Irvine
XBenford@aol.com |
