NUCLEAR POWER, NUCLEAR WASTE
AP Photo
January/ February 2012
"Nuclear Scientists as Assassination Targets"
Journal Article, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, issue 1, volume 68
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Since 2007, international media have reported the violent deaths of four scientists and engineers connected with Iran’s nuclear program and an attempt on the life of a fifth. The news reports on such killings are murky, incomplete, and, in some instances, likely inaccurate...
AP Photo
January/February 2012
"Nuclear Weapons 2011: Momentum Slows, Reality Returns"
Journal Article, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, issue 1, volume 68
By Steven E. Miller, Director, International Security Program; Editor-in-Chief, International Security; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
In the Doomsday Clock issue of the Bulletin, the author takes a look at five events that unfolded in 2011 and that seem certain to cast a powerful shadow in months and years to come. No new breakthroughs occurred, the author writes, adding that 2012 could be a much more difficult year.
December 15, 2011
"Comrades, we're in a defensive arms race with Russia-- but it isn't a bad thing."
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy "The Best Defense" Blog
By Kevin Ryan, Director, Defense and Intelligence Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Russian leaders have previously promised to improve the survivability of their offensive nuclear missile force as a means of ensuring that they would retain an effective nuclear deterrent, and that will likely happen. But recent events and announcements indicate that Russia is also investing money in its own increased missile defenses.
November 2011
"Nuclear Policy Gridlock in Japan"
Policy Brief
The historical growth in the number and variety of Japanese nuclear veto players has made the country an extreme case of stasis in fundamental nuclear policies. Japan is not the only country to experience this phenomenon, however. In many advanced industrialized democracies, the old Manhattan Project model of top-down, centralized, and secretive nuclear institutions has gradually given way to more complex arrangements. And as a general rule, the more numerous the veto players, the harder the struggle to achieve major nuclear policy change.
Winter 2011-2012
Belfer Center Newsletter Winter 2011-2012
Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
The Winter 2011-2012 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features news, analysis and insight by Belfer Center scholars on issues that include increasingly important info-tech policy challenges and the first U.S.-Russian joint threat assessment on nuclear terrorism. The Center’s deepening impact on defense policy is highlighted with an article about the recent appointments of Ashton B. Carter and Eric Rosenbach to senior Pentagon posts and a Q&A with Carter, the new deputy secretary of defense. Additional articles focus on issues ranging from the Palestinian bid for statehood to Calestous Juma’s role in Lagos’ launch of the first innovation advisory council in Africa.
Winter 2011-2012
"MacArthur Grant Enriches Managing the Atom Fellowships"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
The Belfer Center’s Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) has received a major grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to support a fellowship and training program aimed at helping prepare the next generation of nuclear policy leaders.
Winter 2011-2012
"International Security" Journal Highlights
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
This section of the Belfer Center newsletter includes highlights from the Fall 2011 edition of the International Security journal.
AP Photo
2011
"Characteristics and Advantages of the Advanced Small Pressurized Water Reactor"
Journal Article, Nuclear Power, volume 5
By Peipei Chen and Yun Zhou, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
The Advanced Small Pressurized Water Reactor (ASPWR) can be used in remote power grids and replaces mid/small size fossil-fuel plants economically. Current ASPWR deeply adopts modular and integrated pressure vessel design—and a passive safety system—which effectively improves plant safety and economy. This paper performs the comparative study of safety and economy features in ASPWR and large PWRs. The authors suggest that China should start R&D programs in ASPWR.
AP Photo
October 25, 2011
"Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the International Atomic Energy Agency"
Presentation
By Trevor Findlay, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
Professor Findlay presented preliminary findings of his research on how the paramount global governance body in the nuclear field is fulfilling its mandate and how it might be strengthened and reformed. While addressing the confounding political and structural constraints under which the International Atomic Energy Agency operates, the main focus of the talk was on steps that the Agency itself can take to improve its performance.
AP Photo
Fall 2011
"Veto Players, Nuclear Energy, and Nonproliferation: Domestic Institutional Barriers to a Japanese Bomb"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 2, volume 36
Although Japanese politicians have expressed interest in the bomb in the past, the country’s veto players make acquisition unlikely. Early research viewed proliferation exclusively as a response to security needs. Since the 1980s, most models have included domestic factors, but they have focused exclusively on a single actor whose influence can be negated if veto power is widely enough dispersed. Thus, despite Japan’s intimidating plutonium supply, and its persistence in building a complete fuel cycle, the country’s large and growing number of veto players suggests the continuation of a rigid nuclear weapons policy. As this analysis indicates, historical institutional analysis is crucial to understanding a state’s propensity for proliferation and should be considered alongside other contributing factors.
