Shua Sanchez is a materials physicist, a research collaborator with the Program on Science and Global Security, and a 2025 Next-Generation Fellow with the Physicist Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction. His research involves a critical review of the scientific literature on plutonium aging effects used to justify U.S. plans for the production of new plutonium cores (pits) for existing and new nuclear weapons. From 2021 to 2025 he was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT pursuing experimental condensed matter physics. He holds a physics PhD from the University of Washington (2021) and a B.S. in physics from the University of Wisconsin. A longtime activist and union organizer, Shua was an elected member of the executive board of the University of Washington’s graduate student union, UAW 4121, and has worked on Democratic political campaigns across the country.
Research Interests
Shua Sanchez's current research interests include using his materials science experience to critically examine claims about long-term radiation-driven changes in material properties of plutonium in the cores of nuclear warheads. These aging effects have been used to argue that current U.S. nuclear weapons may need to be replaced urgently, and have been used to justify a massive production of new plutonium cores. He also is interested in technical, political, and humanitarian arguments to end the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile program.
Publications
S. Sanchez, Evaluation of a Report of Rapid Aging in Weapons-grade Plutonium, in submission, 2025.
Talks
Plutonium Pit Aging, Princeton School on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, October 2024.
Congressional Lobbying In-District Advocacy Training Preparation, Panelist, Arms Control Association Workshop, 2024.
Global Security Training: Cultivating Relationships with Congressional Offices, Panelist, Union of Concerned Scientists Workshop, 2024.