The Rocky Flats plea bargain: a case study in the prosecution of organizational crime in the US nuclear weapons complex

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-221
Author(s):  
Peter Shrock
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Plea Bargain ◽  
Rocky Flats ◽  
Organizational Crime ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Weapons Complex

Application of Beryllium Antibodies in Risk Assessment and Health Surveillance: Two Case Studies

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M. Clarke ◽  
Salome M. Thurlow ◽  
Duane E. Hilmas
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Internal Exposure ◽  
P Value ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Antibody Assay ◽  
Rocky Flats ◽  
Antibody Titers

This paper demonstrates that current standards used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an area free from potential beryllium contamination may be inadequate. Using the Beryllium Antibody Assay, it was shown that workers exposed to former beryllium work areas, thought to be sanitized and to meet OSHA standards, experienced statistically significant rises in blood beryllium antibody titers. This finding raises the question of whether the equipment currently required to protect workers in beryllium-laden environments is sufficient. The project mission of decommissioning/decontaminating the former nuclear weapons plant at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS), instituted in 1992, has necessitated development of new technology directed toward safe and responsible cleanup. Challenges have been posed not only by the need to dispose of radioactive and chemical waste, but also by the problem of cleaning up hazardous metals such as the element beryllium. Beryllium was used extensively in research and the manufacture of nuclear weapons components at Rocky Flats for over 40 years. Since inhalation of this element can induce chronic beryllium disease (Eisenbud and Lisson, 1983), an antibody assay was developed to screen workers for internal exposure to beryllium. Exposure is indicated by a titer of antibodies greater than twostandard deviations above a normal population control (defined as the mean titer of pooled samples from 51 individuals with no known exposure to beryllium) and a p-value of < 0.05. This paper uescribes two new applications for the assay: risk assessment and health surveillance. Case study 1 involves a team of three workers who cleaned a beryllium plenum and whose beryllium antibody titers provided a quantitative assessment of their exposure. Case study 2 describes the use of the antibody assay to determine the probable manner in which one worker was exposed to beryllium while performing his duties as an architectural engineer.

scholarly journals The Spotlight's Harsh Glare: Rethinking Publicity and International Order

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 627-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Carnegie ◽  
Austin Carson
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
International Order ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Nuclear Nonproliferation ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Do So

AbstractHow does publicizing states' illicit activities affect the stability of international order? What does this relationship tell us about how governments react to violations of international rules? In contrast to the conventional wisdom that transparent monitoring strengthens the normative legal order, we argue that these activities often undermine it. We develop two mechanisms through which this occurs: by raising the known rate of noncompliance, and by sharpening the threat that deviance poses to other states. We argue that when enforcers understand the dangers of publicizing transgressions, they do so selectively. Focusing on the nuclear nonproliferation domain, we demonstrate that these concerns shaped American decisions to reveal or obfuscate other states' efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. We formalize this argument and then empirically test the model's predictions using in-depth case study analyses. We find that the US failed to disclose infractions when this publicity would have undermined the rules through the two mechanisms we identify. However, while concealing violations can prevent proliferation in response to specific nuclear programs, it can also create potential dangers to a regime's overall health and stability. In addition to reassessing a widely shared assumption about the value of transparent monitoring, this article's broad theoretical framework can shed light on enforcement and compliance dynamics in a variety of international settings.

Prohibition, Legalization, and Political Consumerism

2018 ◽  
pp. 740-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Psychoactive Substance ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Us

Cannabis (marijuana) is the most commonly consumed, universally produced, and frequently trafficked psychoactive substance prohibited under international drug control laws. Yet, several countries have recently moved toward legalization. In these places, the legal status of cannabis is complex, especially because illegal markets persist. This chapter explores the ways in which a sector’s legal status interacts with political consumerism. The analysis draws on a case study of political consumerism in the US and Canadian cannabis markets over the past two decades as both countries moved toward legalization. It finds that the goals, tactics, and leadership of political consumerism activities changed as the sector’s legal status shifted. Thus prohibition, semilegalization, and new legality may present special challenges to political consumerism, such as silencing producers, confusing consumers, deterring social movements, and discouraging discourse about ethical issues. The chapter concludes that political consumerism and legal status may have deep import for one another.

Did Groupthink or Polythink Derail the 2016 Raqqa Offensive?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasey Barr ◽  
Alex Mintz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
The Us ◽  
Tactical Decisions

This chapter examines the effect of group dynamics on the 2016 decision within the administration of President Barack Obama to lead the international coalition in a mission to liberate Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State. The authors show that whereas the groupthink syndrome characterized the decision-making process of the US-led coalition’s decision to attack Raqqa, it was polythink that characterized the decision-making dynamics both in the US-led coalition and within the inner circle of Obama’s own foreign policy advisors. Through case-study analysis, the authors illustrate that groupthink is more likely in strategic decisions, whereas polythink is more likely in tactical decisions.

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