Charles Leavitt was a defense contractor with TRW in the 1980s. In the interview he describes the nature of defense contract work in relation to the scientific research being done on nuclear weapons. He explains that contractors come in at an early stage in the process with the aim of better guiding the research toward the device being developed, and making the system more efficient. He explains a number of related details about the process including the uncertainty over whether a given company will retain a contract in future stages of a project.
