IW AGO W AWD IW ECSTASY J h 0 0 \ 4. Weapons makers unmoved by nuclear test ban talks 'The Michigan Daily Edited and managed by Students at the University of Michigan Friday May 20 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 Pass no ban on porn ITY COUNCIL Republicans want to infringe upon the First Amendment rights of some Ann Arbor entre- preneurs by adopting a pornography ordinance. After the first reading of the ordinance introduced by Roger Bertola (R-3rd Ward), Council adopted it. But before the ordinance can become law, it must survive a public hearing and a second Council reading., The ordinance should not slink Into the Ann Arbor law books for several reasons. To begin with, a pornography ordinance would not destroy the market for such materials, but could only force such a market to operate beyond the discretion of the police department. If the pornography ordinance is really aimed at the obliteration of the degradation of human sexuality, this ordinance could not solve that problem. If passed, citizens would have every right to expect the ordinance to be enforced. Our court system is already overloaded, and the police force understaffed. The en- forcement of the ordinance would only clog the system. And, if the ordinance is not to be enforced, what is the logic of passing it in the first place? 'BUT, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the civil rights issue: the adoption of any pornography ordinance would imply governments have the right to legislate just what kinds of information the citizenry may disseminate among it- self. Freedom of expression is clearly endangered by any shade of this ordinance. Council Republicans claim the alleged pornographic bookstores harm surrounding businesses. The passage of the ordinance does not preclude the spread of the "Com- bat Zone" to other parts of the city. If Republican contentions ring true, more business- es could be "harmed," if indeed, any are harmed by the alleged pornographic exchanges now. The ordinance does not smack of justice. Rather, it is more apparently an appeasement for Republican con- stituencies, instead of a serious plan for reasonable action. Pornography, although distasteful to many, is still the right of the remainder. It is a right that neither Council Republicans nor Supreme Court Justices can deny. TODAY'S STAFF: News: Stu McConnell, Ken Letters should be typed Parsigian, Paul Shapiro and limited to 400 words. Editorial: Linda Willcox The Daily reserves the Photo: Christina Schneider right to edit letters for Arts: David Keeps length and grammar. Sports: Tom Cameron By JON STEWART While the Carter Administration repeatedly affirms its commitment to reversing the nuclear arms race, some -of the nation's top nuclear weapons scientists have charted a five-year de- velopment plan, based on Defense Department needs, calling for a substantial increase in nu- clear weapons development. The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's nu- clear weapons forecast could return weapons research and development levels to a pace near that of the early and mid-60's, when weapons in the current stockpile were being built. In sharp contrast to its bucolic surroundings 40 miles east of San Francisco, the one-mile square laboratory complex is a high-security, deadly serious center of government-financed re- search in physics, chemistry and other applied sciences BUT ITS MAJOR responsibility, along with its sister institution at Los Alamos, N.M., is to con- ceptualize, design and develop the nuclear com- ponents of the nation's nuclear arsenal. Laboratory administrators, sensitive to public criticisms of the weapons work, say all weapons programs must be approved by the President and Congress. But despite President Carter's hints of a uni- lateral nuclear test ban and his appointment of Paul Warnke, a liberal on arms control, to head the U.S. SALT delegation, morale among the nearly 3,400 scientists in the weapons program is high. They clearly were not displeased with the ap- pointment of Harold Brown, a former lab direc- tor with an expert background in nuclear weap- ons research, to head the Defense Department. And they share open admiration for former De- fense Secretary James Schlesinger, the new en- ergy chief who will oversee the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA). WHILE THE LAB is actually managed through a contract with the University of California, it is financed through ERDA and the Department of Defense. Besides friends in high places, the weapons scientists have other reasons for optimism about the future of their jobs. The lab's fiscal 1977 nuclear weapons budget represents an 18 per cent increase over the previous year, reversing a decade-long trend of stagnation on nuclear weapons research. And if Defense Department plans for weapons develop- ment do not change significantly, the lab's "na- tional security" budget will continue to grow in real dollars from $156 million in fiscal 1977 to $202 million in fiscal 1978.. (This portion of the budget includes funds for both weapons and laser fusion work, which has immediate applications to weapons testing.) WHILE THIS IS a small part of the roughly $2.4 billion spent annually on nuclear weapons systems (not counting costs for missiles and bombers), many agree it is the most vital part. There, and at Los Alamos, the new ideas are developed that pave the way- for the massive billion-dollar new weapons systems. Right now, the picture for nuclear weapons scientists is probably better than at any time in the past decade. The lab's current nuclear weapons forecast through 1982, based on 1976 projected needs, and subject to periodic review, calls for more money, more manpower, more facilities and more weapons. Among the significant features of the lab's projections, gleaned from public documents and interviews with top administrators: * At least one new nuclear weapons system will be introduced into the nation's stockpile each year; " An average of three to five new systems will be in full-scale development at any given time, up from none several years ago, to meet the Defense Department's short-term require- ments; " Conceptualization and preliminary design of future weapons systems - those short of actual engineering and development - will be increased by at least two-thirds; * Work will be completed on the giant Shiva fusion laser, the world's largest, which besides future civil energy applications will have immedi- ate applications for simulating some aspects of nuclear weapons testing in the lab. ACCORDING TO LAB Director Roger Batzel, a 70 per cent increase in the future weapons efforts - now a small if significant part of the program - is necessary to counter the present emphasis on development of current weapons for the stockpile. This emphasis,says Batzel, "does not allow the flexibility to explore the new areas in nuclear weapons technology." Batzel says a sharp increase in demand for current weapons over the last few years has drawn funds away from the development of future weapons systems. He cites as reasons the need to replace aging weapons in the stockpile, as well as the Pen- tagon's perception of a Soviet drive for nuclear superiority and the need to improve the tactical nuclear arsenal in Europe. Among the weapons systems scheduled for completion by the labs over the next five years are a new warhead for the Lance surface-to- surface missile in Europe; a new warhead for the Army's eight-inch nuclear cannon in Europe; a new strategic bomb designed for the B-1 bomb- er and other carriers; new increased-yield war- heads for the Minuteman III intercontinental bal- listic missiles (ICBMs); and warheads for the new Trident submarine-launched ballistic mis- siles. OTHER WEAPONS expected to move into full- scale development over the next few years in- clude warheads for the advanced cruise missile and the proposed mobile ICBM known as MX. Both the Army and Navy are also pushing for development of new warheads for their own sea and land-based, tactical weapons systems. Lab directors say a recent emphasis on tacti- cal nuclear weapons - designed for striking spe- cific localized targets as opposed to strategic sys- tems for mass devastation - is in large measure a result of the lab's own work. "This (tactical emphasis) in an area where we did go off without a request from the Defense Department and do some experiments to estab- lish the credibility and to establish that indeed those weapons could be built in reasonable sizes," says Michael May, an associate lab director and former SALT negotiator for the Defense Depart- ment. "We did that for a number of years and now they're beginning to be accepted. It's an area where the lab saw a technical capability which wasn't being utilized or asked for, and we went ahead and established its feasibility ... the (De- fense Department) requirements did come in after that." MAY SAYS FUTURE WEAPONS work will put heavy emphasis on "cleaning up" the un- wanted side effects of tactical weapons, such as radioactive fallout, and continuing to reduce size and weight. "I think a clean bomb is something we should develop and push, at least for tactical systems," he says. "I think if both sides clean up their strategic inventory, that would be great, too." But he concedes the new B-77 strategic bomb for the B-1 bomber "is not a cleaner bomb" than its predecessor. The only blight to the otherwise optimistic atmosphere among the weapons scientists is the bomb President Carter dropped in February when he suggested the possibility of a unilateral nu- clear test ban. The scientists, remembering earlier moratori- ums and partial bans, reacted with a mixture of concern and disbelief. "I DON'T THINK the Congress Vould agree with it and I don't think we could do it," said May. "It would bring - if not to a halt - at least essentially to a halt, nuclear weapons de- velopment ... My own opinion is it shouldn't be done." Batzel said a test ban would end any "effec- tive" nuclear weapons program in the U.S. and undermine "confidence in the nuclear weapons stockpile ... It's going to take a few generations for the world to change that much," he added. But Batzel acknowledges in the event of a. complete test ban, the laser fusion technology be- ing developed at the lab could provide some aspects of "simulated" nuclear weapons testing to continue inside the lab. Mar Gustavson, the lab's assistant associ- ate director for military systems, recently sum- med up the lab's confidence in its future: "In each successive decade or so we've seen a major innovation, a major change, an addition to our capabilities. And nuclear explosion technology is just like that. Jon Stewvart is a Paicfic News Servie editr spreiaizing in military and defense affairs.