Evaluating WMD Proliferation Risks at the Nexus of Manufacturing Tools and Methods Used in DIY Communities

Abstract

This project will investigate how access to additive and subtractive manufacturing tools by do-it-yourself (DIY) communities decreases barriers for producing items on the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)’s list of technologies controlled for export in order to determine if new manufacturing tools embraced by DIY communities may cause new proliferation risks. U.S. nonproliferation policy has principally relied on the notion that limiting access to nuclear technology can contain the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials through export controls. Recently, however, additive and subtractive computer-aided manufacturing tools have become more widely accessible to DIY communities of entrepreneurs and hobbyists—a development that could increase the number of companies and individuals capable of fabricating export-controlled goods.