Assuring Control of Nuclear Weapons

A central problem in the history of nuclear weapons has been how to assure that they will only be used when directed and authorized) not in an accident, not by terrorists, not by allies, and not by battlefield commanders acting on their own. Permissive Action Links (PALs) were developed in the 1960s as a technological solution to this problem. This book first examines the factors of that led to the first decision to develop PALs.