Mailing address
Littauer P-20
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox 53.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Olli Heinonen
Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: 617-495-5663
Fax: 617-495-8963
Email: olli_heinonen@hks.harvard.edu
Experience
Olli Heinonen is a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His research and teachings include: nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, verification of treaty compliance, enhancement of the verification work of international organizations, and transfer and control of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Before joining the Belfer Center in September 2010, Olli Heinonen served 27 years at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Heinonen was the Deputy Director General of the IAEA, and head of its Department of Safeguards. Prior to that, he was Director at the Agency’s various Operational Divisions, and as inspector including at the IAEA’s overseas office in Tokyo, Japan.
Heinonen led teams of international investigators to examine nuclear programmes of concern around the world and inspected nuclear facilities in South Africa, Iraq, North Korea, Syria, Libya and elsewhere, seeking to ensure that nuclear materials were not diverted for military purposes. He also spearheaded efforts to implement an analytical culture to guide and complement traditional verification activities. He led the Agency’s efforts to identify and dismantle nuclear proliferation networks, including the one led by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, and he oversaw its efforts to monitor and contain Iran’s nuclear programme.
Prior to joining IAEA, he was a Senior Research Officer at the Technical Research Centre of Finland Reactor Laboratory in charge of research and development related to nuclear waste solidification and disposal. He is co-author of several patents on radioactive waste solidification.
Heinonen is the author of several articles, chapters of books, books, in publications ranging from the IAEA and nuclear non-proliferation issues, to regional nuclear developments. His writings and interviews have be published in various newspapers and magazines including: Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, the Bulleting of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, the Helsingin Sanomat, the New York Times, the Mehr news, Die Stern, the Haaretz, the New Statesman, the Washington Post, the BBC, and the Time. His policy briefings have been published by the Belfer Center, the Atlantic Council, the Nautilus Institute, the Institute for Science and International Security, the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Carnegie Endowment.
Olli Heinonen studied radiochemistry and completed his PhD dissertation in nuclear material analysis at the University of Helsinki.
May 2013 Update
Nuclear Iran: A Glossary of Terms
Report
By Simon Henderson and Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
At a time when the possibility of military action against Iran's nuclear program is being debated, the need for a clear understanding of the issues and the controversial science and technology behind them has never been more acute. Toward that end, the Washington Institute and Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs have copublished an interactive online glossary of terms used in the discussion about Iran, prepared by proliferation expert Simon Henderson and Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Spring 2013
"Insights on the Nuclear Negotiations with Iran"
Op-Ed, Middle East Journal, volume 67
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Written at a time when Iran's nuclear issue, a subject of diplomatic efforts since 2003, remains unresolved, it would be reasonable to glean what explanations the book can provide to this end. Meanwhile, Iran has steadily progressed toward nuclear weapons capability and continues to disregard UN Security Council and IAEA resolutions. It is subject to increasingly tightened international sanctions and censure. Can Iran move away from steps that have caused its economy to tailspin and walk away from an isolated path?
Kaeri Photo
March 29, 2013
Safeguards for Pyroprocessing Plants
Media Feature
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Senior Fellow Olli Heinonen discussed pyroprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, its proliferation risks, and safeguards.
Published by Springer
April 2, 2013
Assessment of the Nuclear Programs of Iran and North Korea: Foreword
Book Chapter
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
During the last two decades, there have been successes but also disappointments in fighting against nuclear proliferation. On the positive side, we witnessed the dismantlement of nuclear weapons programs in South Africa, Iraq, and Libya.
IAEA
March 15, 2013
"Iran's Nuclear Clock and World Diplomacy"
Op-Ed, Policy Watch
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Simon Henderson
Talks with Iran in Turkey next week and in Kazakhstan next month are important, but Tehran still needs to clarify the details of its controversial nuclear program.
AP Images
January 22, 2013
"The Middle Eastern Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (WMDFZ)- Nuclear Verification"
Conference Paper
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Christian Charlier
The establishment of a WMDFZ in the Middle East is a real challenge for the international community taking into consideration the absence of favorable conditions such as the mutual states recognitions as political entities with established diplomatic relations, and stability. To start with, there is no one single model for existing Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ). Each existing NWFZ treaty had introduced elements, including creative legal arrangements, and unique features depending on the specificities of each zone. The current treaties of the South Pacific NWFZ, the Southeast Asian NWFZ, the African NWFZ, the Latin American NWFZ, and the Central Asian NWFZ, can be studied and applied where relevant. So, too, there exist organizations responsible for the verification of these treaties (IAEA, OPCW, CTBTO). The case of the Middle East will be more complex since the treaty is envisioned to cover all weapons of mass destruction including biological and chemical as well as their delivery vehicles. A large number of political, historical, technical, and verification issues need to be factored into the Treaty. In other words, working on a WMDFZ means the necessity to deal with all WMD aspects together. Progressing the WMDFZ further means looking at a composite picture of states’ concerns and relations in the region that just counting weapons reduction alone.
AP Images
January 15, 2013
"Critical Monitoring and Verification Issues In Northeast Asia"
Op-Ed, The Nautilus Institute
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
In this short report Olli Heinonen addresses critical monitoring and verification issues arising from Morton Halperin’s proposal for a nuclear weapons free zone as a new approach for the security in Northeast Asia.
IAEA
December 20, 2012
"IAEA’s Integral Role in Ending the Iranian Nuclear Crisis"
Op-Ed, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Mark Hibbs
There is a small opening to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis after the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election, write Mark Hibbs and Olli Heinonen. "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called this a 'window of opportunity,' and it is beginning to focus minds on identifying the necessary components of a package deal that will put Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and UN Security Council powers squarely on a path toward conflict resolution."
AP Images
November 27, 2012
Understanding the IAEA's Mandate in Iran: Avoiding Misinterpretations
Report
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, David Albright and Orde Kittrie
Much attention has focused on Iran's advancing nuclear program, on the peace and security concerns which that program has raised, and on the international policy debate over how to respond to that program. Far less attention has been paid to the various legal-sounding arguments used by Iran and a few academics to call into question the mandate of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate and make determinations about actual or suspected violations of Iran’s legal obligations.
IAEA
November 5, 2012
"Iran's Nuclear Ambitions and Future Prospects"
Paper
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
International diplomacy efforts dealing with Iran’s nuclear program continue to fill the daily news headlines. The efforts of P5+1, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have tried, in various formats, to encourage and enforce Iran to comply with the provisions of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is not used as a cover for the development of nuclear weapons. The challenge of discovering what has taken place as well as currently with Iran’s nuclear ambitions is difficult not only because of Tehran’s obstructionism, but also because the same nuclear technologies, particularly uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
