Citation
Curry, Dan. Always/Never: The Quest for Safety, Control & Survivability. Documentary. Sandia National Laboratories, 2010.
Commentary
This documentary film produced in-house by Sandia National Laboratories in 2010 describes the work of Sandia engineers in tackling the “Always/Never” question, where nuclear weapons must be guaranteed to always detonate when authorized, and never detonate when unauthorized. The documentary goes through the history of American nuclear weapons with an eye towards safety, surety, and security, featuring interviews with weapons designers, engineers, political figures, government officials, and academic political scientists. Features especially detailed discussions of the repercussions of the accidents at Goldsboro, NC; Palomares, Spain; and Thule, Greenland, as well as the effort to develop environmental sensors, strong- and weak-link technology, and Permissive Action Links, and the military resistance to these safety features. Declassified and released publicly in 2014. Runs 143 minutes.
See also this additional commentary by William Burr of the National Security Archive.