Doug Beason

Biography:

Dr. Doug Beason is the Associate Laboratory Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, responsible for programs tasked with eliminating the global threat of weapons of mass destruction, a portfolio exceeding $670M with line responsibility for over 1,600 researchers. He has over 29 years of experience that spans conducting basic research, to directing national security programs and formulating national policy.

He is the author of fourteen novels and 50 scientific publications. He previously served on the White House staff working for the President's Science Advisor under both the Bush and Clinton Administrations where he was an adjunct member of the National Space Council, and was the key White House staffer for space science and technology at NASA. He has performed research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; directed a plasma physics laboratory; and taught at the US Air Force Academy as an associate professor of physics and director of faculty research.

Past Shows:

	Energy Weapons & N. Korea Nuclear Test
	Sunday October 8, 2006

Associate Director at Los Alamos National Lab, Doug Beason offered analysis of the North Korea nuclear testand discussed directed energy weapons and how they may change the way we fight wars. Directed energy weapons, such as airborne lasers, could actually be used to shoot down nuclear missiles, he noted. The laser has the advantage of being able to travel at the speed of light, and can be deflected off mirrors in space, to target any point on Earth. Half a billion dollars is being spent to develop these laser systems, said Beason, who added that they are inherently not an offensive weapon, but rather a defensive one with the ability to use a narrow focus. He also touched on microwave weapons, which like lasers can travel at the speed of light. They can envelop large areas like a battlefield, and perhaps knock out all the enemies' electronics, he reported. ... More
Host: Art Bell