Author Bio

Michael J. Burns has served in the White House as Special Assistant to President Bush and Senior Director for Nuclear Defense Policy on the Homeland Security Council. He also served with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the founding Director of the Office of National Laboratories within the department’s Science and Technology Directorate. His international experience includes joint programs with US allies and working with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Iraq Nuclear Verification Office as an inspector in Iraq.

During more than 37 years in the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) system, he has worked at all three NNSA laboratories with a focus on national security-related projects and programs. Most recently, Burns was the Associate Laboratories Director for National Security Programs and the Senior Intelligence Executive at the Sandia National Laboratories. He served in a variety of  roles at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL),including being the founding Division Leader of LANL’s current Integrated Weapons Experiments (J) Division, Deputy Principal Associate Director for Global Security Programs, Director of the Field Intelligence Element at LANL, Contractor Program Manager for certain counter-terrorism/non-proliferation programs, Group Leader for the Hydrodynamics and Dynamic Testing groups, and Project Director for construction of the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamics Test facility.

Prior to working at LANL, he participated in the mechanical design of a series of particle accelerator at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. During his time with the national laboratories, Burns has been recognized for exceptional service with several awards including a DOE/NNSA certificate of recognition, DOE/NNSA Medal of Excellence, and two Los Alamos distinguished performance awards.

The following are the sources used in Mr. Burns’ essay “Deterrence, Assurance and Resolve”

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Bawden, A. B. (2023-b). GAO-23-105671: Technical Exceptions and Limitations Do Not Constrain DOD's Planning and Operations. Washington, DC: United States Govenment Accountability Office. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105671

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Walter, D. (2023). "Sustaining and Strengthening Nuclear Deterrence through the Inflection Point". The Inflection Point and the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise (pp. 47-53). Livermore, CA: LLNL Center for Global Security Research and LANL Office of National Security and International Studies. Retrieved from https://cgsr.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/CGSR-Inflection-OP-FullBook-10-04-2023-v4-Web.pdf

Woolf, A. F. (2022). Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from https://sgp.fas.org/crs/nuke/RL32572.pdf