Web Edition | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Moving beyond the nuclear option

Jill Marie Parillo — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:10:11 -0800

Roundtable Topic: Managing the global growth of nuclear energy

President-elect Barack Obama has shown with his political appointments, campaign statements, and energy plans that his administration's take on nuclear power won't be a complete revolution from the Bush era, but rather a thoughtful series of evolutionary steps.

The struggle for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia

Togzhan Kassenova — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:33:11 -0800

When Kazakhstan's Parliament ratified a treaty establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia earlier this month, the effort to ban nuclear weapons from the region took its final step. Throughout the Cold War, Central Asia had been the epicenter of the Soviet nuclear testing program--with the Soviet military conducting 456 nuclear tests in Kazakhstan alone. Appropriately then, the treaty was signed by representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in September 2006 at Semipalatinsk, the main Soviet test site in Kazakhstan.

Let's get serious about nuclear waste management

Alan Hanson — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:28:24 -0800

Roundtable Topic: Managing the global growth of nuclear energy

A primary driving force behind the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership was to incentivize countries to voluntarily forgo building sensitive fuel-cycle facilities. Hence the twin ideas of a multinational or international fuel bank and cradle-to-grave fuel leasing (including spent-fuel take back). While progress is being made on the concept of a nuclear fuel bank, the same can't be said for take-back schemes. The main issue with the latter revolves around concerns over nuclear waste disposal.

Building a culture of responsible science

Malcolm Dando — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:54:45 -0800

Earlier this year, I wrote about preparations for the December 5th meeting between States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). I warned that in addition to agreeing to a broad agenda, the States Parties needed to begin acting to make this agenda a reality.

Restricting the role of biosecurity

Anna Zmorzynska — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:22:00 -0800

The list of issues that qualify as biosecurity concerns is expanding. Protecting against accidental disease outbreaks; the introduction of genetically modified crop plants, or foreign animal or plant diseases; food defense (formerly known as food safety); and controlling natural outbreaks of disease have all recently fallen under the biosecurity umbrella. This broadening scope has the potential to bring renewed attention to certain public health issues, but it also could tie public health too closely to national security agendas and may threaten the freedom of scientific research.

The legacy of Ed Grothus and the Black Hole

Hugh Gusterson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:52:15 -0800

--"Jesters do oft prove prophets," William Shakespeare, King Lear
--"When one is legendary, one must do legendary things," Ed Grothus

Making domestically produced medical isotopes a national priority

Edwin S. Lyman — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:04:48 -0800

Despite the clinical importance of medical isotopes, used in an estimated 18 million procedures per year in the United States alone, the world's supply is increasingly unreliable due to antiquated reactors. At one point in August, all five of the most important medical isotope-producing reactors, all located outside of the United States, were inoperable. The simultaneous shutdowns resulted in supply interruptions, causing a rationing of medical procedures in some areas. Problems are likely to persist for months because one of the largest reactors requires significant repairs.

Formulating the next U.S.-Russian arms control agreement

Pavel Podvig — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:56:25 -0800

As the United States waits for a new administration to take office in January, expectations are high that arms control talks with Russia will be revitalized shortly thereafter. Parties in both countries--no matter political persuasion--think Washington and Moscow should move quickly to devise a new disarmament agreement that would replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires in December 2009.

OPEC and the Prisoner's Dilemma

Kurt Zenz House — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:11:17 -0800

Imagine that you and your accomplice have been arrested for a crime that you did commit. The cops lock you in separate interrogation rooms for hours. While nervously awaiting the interrogator, you fixate on your accomplice in the other room, realizing that he might try to strike a deal to save his own skin. You think to yourself, "What is he saying? Is he sticking to the prearranged story? What should I do?"

Redefining deterrence: How the Obama administration should handle RRW

Yousaf Butt — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:45:55 -0800

Editor's note: The opinions expressed below are solely those of the author and not his employer.

Advice on how President-elect Barack Obama and his advisers should proceed with the country's nuclear policy, starting with the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) Program:

The proliferation of space warfare technology

Matthew Hoey — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:00:43 -0800

The November 2007 National Nano Engineering conference in Boston on advanced nanotechnology applications for commercial and military space systems included dozens of speakers and presentations on cutting-edge space applications. Hundreds of people attended, with nearly every seat in the hotel's grand ballroom filled for the first session.

The Future of Nuclear Energy: Policy recommendations

Allison Macfarlane — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:59:26 -0800

Global warming necessitates the development of new forms of low-emissions, base-load power generating capacity. To assess the financial, regulatory, and proliferation concerns confronting nuclear energy and to develop strategies for addressing the barriers to the deployment of new reactors, in late September 2008, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists convened nearly 40 scientists, policy makers, industry representatives, and nongovernmental experts from around the world.

Current nuclear technology isn't a cost-effective solution to U.S. energy, climate change, and security needs

Thomas B. Cochran — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:16:10 -0800

Roundtable Topic: Managing the global growth of nuclear energy

Miles Pomper and Stephen Goldberg have made several good suggestions regarding how the Obama administration should focus its nuclear energy efforts--i.e., encouraging developing countries that are considering nuclear power to forgo proliferation-sensitive uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing facilities; using enhanced computer simulations to develop and qualify advanced high-burnup nuclear fuels for existing reactors; and promoting "smart grids," plug-in hybrid vehicles, and electric vehicles.

Unifying the U.S. government response to bioterrorism

Laura H. Kahn — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:18:33 -0800

Of the many ways in which the United States is unprepared to deal with an infectious disease outbreak or bioterrorist attack, here's one of the most problematic: The responsibility for public health is a state concern.

Redefining deterrence: Is RRW detrimental to U.S. security calculus?

Yousaf Butt — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:36:54 -0800

Editor's note: The opinions expressed below are solely those of the author and not his employer.

The Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) Program proposes to redesign the nuclear explosive package of U.S. nuclear warheads using advanced computer simulations and the experience gleaned from previous weapons tests. The advertised aim of RRW is to enhance warhead safety and security while improving confidence in the stockpile's long-term reliability--allegedly, without any new nuclear explosive tests.¹

Biological codes of conduct versus government oversight

Malcolm Dando — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:51:28 -0800

A recent conference, "Sustaining Progress in the Life Sciences: Strategies for Managing Dual Use Research of Concern," hosted by the World Health Organization and the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) in Washington, addressed a range of issues, many of which map well on to the agenda of the States Parties meeting of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) which will be held next week.

An international cap-and-trade system has flaws

David Weisbach — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:19:14 -0800

Roundtable Topic: Carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade

It's good to see the discussion turning to international issues, where it seems we have some disagreements and the most difficult issues arise. So far, the discussion has been noteworthy more for consensus than anything else. Although we learn from consensus, focusing on where we disagree is a better way to make progress. I suspect that part of the reason for our broad agreement is that none of us represents the major effected industries. In the political arena where these ideas ultimately have to pass muster, things won't be so easy.

Brazil: Why go nuclear?

Odair Dias Gonçalves — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:31:14 -0800

Editor's note: In the September/October 2008 Bulletin, we asked governments from countries around the world to explain why they were considering nuclear power. That dialogue continues below, as the chairman of Brazil's nuclear energy commission explains his country's nuclear energy plans.

An opportunity to explore nontraditional solutions

Stephen M. Goldberg — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:49:57 -0800

Roundtable Topic: Managing the global growth of nuclear energy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently published the latest edition of its World Energy Outlook. The report states that nuclear capacity must grow to at least 1.8 times current capacity by 2030 if global temperature increases are to be kept to 2 degrees Celsius. "[Political action] is urgently needed to ensure secure energy supplies and to curtail rising emissions of greenhouse gases," according to IEA Executive Director Nobou Tanaka in November.

Tracking the spread of biological technologies

Robert Carlson — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:58:37 -0800

It is often said that the coming century will be dominated by biological technologies. For that to be true, our ability to design and build synthetic biological systems will require substantial improvement. Most products resulting from genetic modification on the market today are a consequence of a mere handful of changes in genetic structure.