DIRTY BOMBS
Belfer Center
Spring 2010
"Spotlight with Rolf Mowatt-Larssen"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sasha Talcott, Former Director of Communications and Outreach
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen spent more than two dozen years in intelligence, both in the CIA and U.S. Department of Energy. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he led the U.S. government's efforts to determine whether al Qaeda had WMD capabilities and to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack on the United States. He is now a senior fellow at the Belfer Center. In January, Mowatt-Larssen published a timeline of al Qaeda's attempts to acquire WMD.
U.S. NNSA
February 24, 2010
"Securing Nuclear Stockpiles in Four Years – Budget and Policy Requirements"
Presentation
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
Matthew Bunn presented "Securing Nuclear Stockpiles in Four Years – Budget and Policy Requirements;" a briefing for congressional staffers about the nature of the nuclear threat and suggested steps lawmakers could take to help achieve the President Obama's objective of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in 4 years.
November, 2009
Strategies for Acquiring Foreign Nuclear Assistance in the Middle East: Lessons from the United Arab Emirates
Working Paper
By Bryan Early, Former Research Fellow 2008-2009, The Dubai Initiative
The path to acquiring a peaceful civilian nuclear program is fraught with challenges for countries in the Middle East. Given Israel's proactive policies in preventing the proliferation of its neighbors and nuclear supplier states' consternation about the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region, Arab states face a number of unique obstacles in acquiring foreign nuclear assistance. Yet as the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) recent success in courting the assistance of a number of nuclear supplier states demonstrates, these obstacles are not insurmountable. This piece explores the UAE's strategies in obtaining foreign nuclear assistance to uncover the generalizable insights that may be of use to other Middle Eastern countries seeking to develop peaceful nuclear programs.
AP Image
August 7, 2009
"The Armageddon Test"
Discussion Paper
By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
How much nuclear material has leaked, and is it in the hands of terrorists, in storage somewhere, or still in circulation? No one knows for sure, but the task of cleaning up the nuclear black market amounts to an Armageddon test for global intelligence. The standard for success is unforgiving: all nuclear material must be recovered before it finds its way into an improvised nuclear device.
Summer 2009
"Center Scholars Offer Advice on Future of U.S.-Russia Relations"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Beth Maclin, Former Communications Assistant, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Belfer Center Director Graham Allison, with members of the Bipartisan Commission on U.S. Policy towards Russia, met in March with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and high-level officials in the Obama administration to discuss the future of U.S.-Russia relations.
DOD
May 8, 2009
"Securing all Nuclear Stockpiles in Four Years – What’s Required?"
Presentation
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
Matthew Bunn presented "Securing all Nuclear Stockpiles in Four Years – What’s Required?" at the Partnership for Global Security's "Right-Sizing the Budget for Global Nuclear Security" workshop on May 8, 2009.
April 13, 2009
"U.S. Needs Better System for Securing Radioactive Material"
Op-Ed, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
William H. Tobey, senior fellow with the Belfer Center, argues that if we are to make a lasting improvement in our efforts to prevent a dirty bomb attack, we need a better system for regulating the security and disposition of radiological sources. Tobey says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should take two actions: establish the bona fides of all purchasers of radiological sources before issuing a permit; and require a deposit equal to the likely cost of safe disposition, to be refunded once disposition is complete.
istock Photo
March 23, 2009
"How to Keep the Bomb From Terrorists"
Op-Ed, Newsweek
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
The only thing that can keep nuclear bombs out of the hands of terrorists is a brand-new science of nuclear forensics.
Belfer Center
Spring 2009
"Panel Calls on President and Congress to Address WMD Proliferation"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sasha Talcott, Former Director of Communications and Outreach
Belfer Center director Graham Allison served on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, which released its report in December. The congressionally appointed Commission called on then President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to immediately initiate several concrete actions, unilaterally and with the international community, to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that pose the greatest peril: nuclear and biological weapons.
istock photo
January 22, 2009
World At Risk: The Report of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism
Testimony
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
Belfer Center Director Graham Allison testified before the House Armed Services Committee about the findings of "World At Risk," the report produced by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
