PUBLICATIONS
July 15, 2012
Approaches to Strengthen China's Nuclear Security
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
Establishing modern, well-designed nuclear material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) systems to secure nuclear material in China is very important to prevent against nuclear terrorism. At the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, Chinese President Hu Jintao made clearly commitments to strengthening nuclear security. This paper will assess China’s material protection, control, and accounting approaches, analyze existing regulations and administrative systems, and propose ways of strengthening them.
July 15, 2012
China’s Nuclear Weapons Modernization: Intentions, Drivers, and Trends
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
This piece will discuss the intentions and drive of China‘s nuclear weapons modernization, the meaning of Chinese minimum deterrence, and the trends of the Chinese nuclear weapons program.
July 13, 2012
How US Restraint Can Keep China's Nuclear Arsenal Small
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, issue 4, volume 68
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
China currently has far fewer nuclear weapons than the U.S., possibly the fewest of the five original nuclear weapons states. But if China feels threatened by the deployment of U.S. missile defenses, that could well change.
June 28, 2012
China Responds to Fukushima
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
By Yun Zhou, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
Before the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, China had big nuclear expansion plans, with more than 40 reactor units under construction or in planning. The Fukushima disaster led China to conduct safety inspections of all its reactors and to suspend nuclear project approvals until a new nuclear safety plan could be adopted. Under Beijing's new safety regulatory system, reactors that are operating or under construction will be spared major redesign, but future projects will face re-engineering, perhaps leading the Chinese to adopt safer third-generation reactor designs created by Chinese firms.
June 2012
Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA
By Trevor Findlay, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
This report marks the culmination of a two-year research project that examined all aspects of the mandate and operations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, from major programs on safeguards, safety, security, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to governance, management, and finance.
AP Photo
June 2012
"Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA"
By Trevor Findlay, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
Published along with the report Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA — the result of more than two years of research and examining all aspects of the Agency's mandate and operations — this policy brief summarizes the report's key findings and policy recommendations for strengthening and reforming the IAEA.
June 12, 2012
Nuclear Security's Top Priority
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
By Eben Harrell, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
In the past two decades, at least two terrorist groups have made serious attempts at obtaining nuclear weapons or the nuclear material needed to make them. They won't be the last. Foiling terrorists willing to inflict unlimited damage requires the international community to prioritize the nuclear stocks that pose the greatest risks and take immediate steps to eliminate or secure them.
Press TV
May 28, 2012
"Prospects for a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East"
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
By Martin B. Malin, Executive Director, Project on Managing the Atom
As negotiations with Iran over the future of its nuclear program inch toward a possible deal, another intractable Middle East problem with a nuclear dimension is likely to start getting more serious attention. It is the question of whether there is any chance that Israel, Iran, and their Arab neighbors will agree to discuss establishing a regional zone free of all nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and their delivery systems. After decades of backsliding, proliferation, and conflict in the Middle East, the conventional wisdom says the current round of efforts will fail. I think the conventional wisdom is wrong.
AP Photo
May 24, 2012
"US Should Not Continue to Insist on Sanctions against Iran"
GlobalPost
By Mansour Salsabili, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
"Here the vital task is clarifying and resolving in this case the inherent tension between the Non-Proliferation Treaty's prohibition on proliferation and provision of the right to nuclear energy. This is not an easy job."
Mark Wilson/Getty
May 21, 2012
"How To Avoid a War with Iran"
Foreign Policy
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom and Abbas Maleki, Associate, International Security Program
Observers would be forgiven for dismissing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program as Kabuki theater. Despite years of on-again, off-again efforts, after all, fears of war continue to simmer. Such frustrations are understandable -- but they may not be entirely justified.
