Features | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The Indian approach to climate and energy policy

Divya Badami Rao — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:13:00 -0600

At the end of the thirteenth meeting of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change that took place in Bali last December, the Indian delegation was relieved, happy even.

COPUOS wades into the next great space debate

Theresa Hitchens — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:38:00 -0600

It is a well-worn cliché that the gears of international diplomacy grind at a glacial pace. Breakthroughs often are preceded by years of background work during which progress barely crawls forward. So, it is not surprising that this year's annual session of the Vienna-based U.N. Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) ended on June 20 without any decisions on the key question now bedeviling the global space community: How to ensure the long-term security of space operations in a more crowded, and more militarized, environment?

Deciphering NNSA's Complex Transformation

Ingrid Drake — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:44:00 -0600

To draw attention to Complex Transformation, its "vision for a smaller, safer, more secure, and less expensive nuclear weapons complex," in January, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that it had begun removing Category I and II special nuclear materials (SNM) from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to the Savannah River Site--a task that the NNSA anticipates completing by the end of 2012 and would

The security impact of the neurosciences

Jonathan Y. Huang — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:39:00 -0600

In light of increased research into human brain function and cognition, some important questions have arisen: What are the implications of security-related applications of this research? What impact will this research and its applied technologies have globally? What international regimes could regulate the dual use or potential misuse of these technologies? Or will international regimes develop as a result?

The U.S. Air Force's indifference toward nuclear weapons

Lawrence J. Korb — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:46:00 -0600

From its creation as a separate service at the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force was first among equals amid the nation's three military departments and four armed services--whether measured by budget share or in public appeal. During the 1950s, for example, the air force received about one-half of the entire defense budget, leaving the other three services to argue over the remaining 50 percent and fumbling to co-opt some part of the air force's mission.

U.S.-Russian nuclear agreement raises serious concerns

Robert Alvarez — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:24:00 -0600

On May 13, President George W. Bush submitted to Congress an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation with the Russian Federation. The "123 agreement"--named after a provision of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act--would establish a 30-year framework for nuclear commerce between the former Cold War enemies, allowing the transfer of nuclear commodities such as reactor components and U.S. government-owned technologies and materials to Russia.

Public safety and transporting ethanol

Richard Jaehne — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:39:00 -0600

Every day, tens of millions of gallons of grain alcohol moves from biorefineries located in rural Midwestern communities to major population centers on both coasts--in tanker trucks on congested highways, train cars passing through town centers, and river barges docked in busy ports. And the amount of ethanol transported throughout the country will only continue to increase as interest in fossil-fuel alternatives grows.

The end of Japan's nuclear taboo

Elizabeth D. Bakanic — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:34:00 -0600

Ever since the August 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese people have possessed a strong aversion to the idea of nuclear weapons. Public discussion of developing nuclear weapons has been practically nonexistent, and politicians have been chastised for mentioning the topic: As recently as 1999, Japan's vice defense minister resigned after receiving overwhelming criticism for suggesting that Japan should arm itself with nuclear weapons.

The reality of France's aggressive nuclear power push

Mycle Schneider — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:59:00 -0600

"It's time to look to the French," New York Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote in January.

Why Arab leaders worry about Iran's nuclear program

Tariq Khaitous — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:56:00 -0600

On the surface, it would seem as though Arab leaders would support the Iranian nuclear program. After all, Iran is a fellow Muslim state in close geographic proximity that shares a strong hostility for Israel. Moreover, Pakistan's triumph in developing nuclear weapons to combat India's nuclear program generated great pride in the Arab world.

The challenges of developing synthetic pathogens

Gerald L. Epstein — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:13:00 -0600

The announcement in January 2008 that a team of researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute had constructed the first complete bacterial genome, and that they intend to create a viable bacterium from it, has spotlighted the power of gene synthesis technology. As the ability to design, construct, and biologically activate long strands of genomic material improves, the benefits in terms of research in medicine, energy, materials, and other applications will grow. However, so could concerns that the technology might lead to accidental or deliberate harm.

The IAEA's dilemma with Syria's Al Kibar nuclear site

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:46:00 -0600

Although Israel's September 2007 raid on what it believed to be the Al Kibar nuclear site in Syria has often been compared to its 1981 raid on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, the aura of secrecy surrounding the Syria raid stands in stark contrast to the extensive public explanations offered by Israel 27 years ago. Further details about the Syria raid have recently been provided, but they didn't come from Israel. Instead, senior U.S. intelligence officials presented them to Congress and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in late April--nearly eight months after the raid.

The upside to FutureGen's demise

Kurt Zenz House — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:09:00 -0600

In January, the Energy Department announced it would back out of its 2003 commitment to FutureGen, a public-private partnership that planned to build an advanced coal power plant employing carbon-capture-and-storage technology (CCS).

Kazakhstan's nuclear ambitions

Togzhan Kassenova — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:40:00 -0600

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the international community anxiously watched to see what newly independent Kazakhstan would do with the thousands of nuclear weapons left on its territory. If Kazakhstan had decided to prevent their withdrawal, it would have become the fourth largest nuclear power in the world. Thankfully, the country decided to disarm--a choice it reached due to a combination of international pressure, a desire to integrate into the international community, and assured Western assistance with dismantling its nuclear weapons and facilities.

Republicans, missile defense, and the Reagan legacy

Lawrence J. Korb — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:52:00 -0600

When developing a weapons program for the Defense Department, there is normally an orderly and somewhat rational process to be followed: First, a threat is identified; research is then conducted on how best to deal with said threat; and finally, a weapon system is developed and eventually produced.

If at any time in this process the threat changes or the research demonstrates that no available technology exists to deal with the threat, or a weapon system cannot be developed in a cost-effective manner, the research is stopped, slowed down, or canceled.

Improving infectious disease surveillance

Eileen R. Choffnes — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0600

The advance of human civilization has brought people, plants, animals, and microbes together in otherwise improbable combinations and locations. Today, international travel and commerce (most notably the explosive growth of commercial air transportation during the past 50 years) drives the rapid, global distribution of microbial pathogens, and the organisms that harbor them. These include humans, whose migrations have been implicated in the spread of diseases including SARS, drug-resistant malaria, and chikungunya (a vector-borne viral disease) in Europe.

Twenty-five years after Reagan's Star Wars speech

David Wright — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:00:00 -0600

On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan made his famous Star Wars speech, announcing his plan to develop a missile defense system that would make nuclear weapons "impotent and obsolete." His vision of a "shield that could protect us from nuclear missiles just as a roof protects a family from the rain" was both seductive and audacious.

The U.S. nuclear weapons complex: Pushing for a new production capability

Greg Mello — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:00:00 -0600

On January 15, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by former secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former Defense Secretary William Perry, and former Georgia Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn, which 37 other national security experts also endorsed. Entitled "Toward A Nuclear-Free World," it was the second such essay in the Journal by these authors in as many years.

Reducing emissions in transportation fuels

Daniel M. Kammen — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:00:00 -0600

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the high-profile environmental crusade in the vehicle and fuel industries was to establish a ban on lead additives in gasoline--encapsulated by the catchphrase, "get the lead out." After initial uncertainty and some opposition based on the fear that prices would rise and vehicle performance would suffer, the transition to unleaded fuels proved remarkably easy and effective. The average blood-lead level in the U.S.

The U.S. satellite shootdown: China's response

Eric Hagt — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:00:00 -0700

Despite characterizations in the Western media to the contrary, China's official reaction to Washington's intentional destruction of the errant USA-193 spy satellite--an action many have interpreted as an antisatellite (ASAT) test--has been fairly muted.