Web Edition | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Priorities for improving the chemical weapons treaty

Pal Aas — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:27:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The expanding range of biowarfare threats

Some States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) are concerned about limiting the development and possible use of incapacitants for law enforcement. This was clear during the negotiations of the CWC. Other countries would like to have the right to produce any chemical, drug, or other agent for law enforcement purposes. Such agents could have several effects on humans, including altering brain function.

Consistent criticism from all sides proves that the NRC isn't a good regulator

David Lochbaum — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:23:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The future of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Andy Kadak raises a valid point about Davis-Besse's near miss resulting from a major breakdown not only at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) but also at the plant operator FirstEnergy and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). INPO, formed by the industry in response to Three Mile Island, seeks to hold plant owners to standards considerably higher than NRC regulations. Any time a nuclear plant such as Davis-Besse falls below NRC regulations, it first falls below INPO standards.

The furor over genetically modified foods

Laura H. Kahn — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0600

The United Nations estimates that world population will top 9 billion people by 2050. Combined with the anticipated consequences of global warming such as drought, this could lead to devastating food shortages.

Geoengineering could buy the time needed to develop a sustainable energy economy

Dan Whaley — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:26:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: Has the time come for geoengineering?

Although Alan Robock's "20 Reasons Why Geoengineering May Be a Bad Idea" raises legitimate questions, it seems to argue against implementation rather than against studying the underlying science. Few people are actively advocating for immediate, full-scale implementation of geoengineering techniques as a means of addressing climate change.

The new nuclear abolitionists

Hugh Gusterson — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:50:00 -0600

Twenty-five years ago, the Nuclear Freeze campaign mobilized hundreds of thousands of Americans to demand an end to the testing, production, and deployment of new nuclear weapons. At that time, advocating the complete abolition of nuclear weapons was a fringe position confined to a few utopians on the left. Even most antinuclear activists struggled getting past the "you can't put the genie back in the bottle" common sense of pundits and arms control experts.

Missed opportunities at the chemical weapons treaty meeting

Malcolm Dando — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:08:00 -0600

Prior to the Chemical Weapons Convention's (CWC) Second Review Conference last month, several attempts were made to raise the issue of the potential for incapacitating chemical agents to skirt the convention's rules. Despite these efforts, when the convention adjourned in mid-April, little had been done to address the issue.

When states fail to address incapacitants

Ralf Trapp — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:42:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The expanding range of biowarfare threats

Discussions of security risks will eventually have to take account of the readiness of governments to address them and agree on practical solutions. The Second Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which included representatives from 114 national governments, has just completed its work--how did it deal with the issues identified in this roundtable?

Don't judge the nuclear industry or NRC by standards and incidents from 30 years ago

Anthony R. Pietrangelo — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:49:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The future of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is facing a significant challenge as it seeks to fulfill its responsibilities to ensure the safe and secure use of commercial nuclear technology. For the first time in decades, the NRC will soon conduct the licensing review of several new applications to build and operate nuclear power plants, as well as review the first ever application for a used fuel repository. In addition, it will continue its ongoing oversight of nuclear reactors, materials licensees, and used fuel management.

Climate engineering: Not a panacea, but necessary nonetheless?

Ken Caldeira — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:30:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: Has the time come for geoengineering?

Winston Churchill once famously said, "Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." Climate engineering may indeed be a bad idea, but so far, better ideas to mitigate global warming show little traction.

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).

Getting U.S. foreign assistance right

Gordon Adams — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:17:00 -0600

The United States badly needs to get its act together in promoting its national interests and national security objectives. And it badly needs to "rebalance" its statecraft toolkit, so U.S. civilian tools can perform their missions. Currently, too much of the domestic dialogue about our role in the world has focused on near-term security problems--namely, defeating Al Qaeda and stabilizing and reconstructing Iraq and Afghanistan.

The NRC must see itself as a regulator first, not an industry booster

Victor Gilinsky — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:14:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The future of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

David Lochbaum wants to inject new blood into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff to stiffen enforcement of its safety rules. The composition of NRC technical staff is not the problem--they are a professional lot, as good as you will find in the federal government. Not surprisingly, though, they are responsive to priorities set at the top--by the commissioners, and mainly by the chairman.

Doing what is possible to limit incapacitants; what about truth serums?

Jonathan B. Tucker — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:20:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The expanding range of biowarfare threats

Alan Pearson's latest comment criticizes my proposal to establish a new subcategory in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) for declaring "other chemical production facilities" that manufacture peptides in quantities above a specified threshold because this approach would not cover all incapacitating agents, many of which are not peptides.

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.

The core issues underlying the threat of incapacitants

Alan Pearson — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:56:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The expanding range of biowarfare threats

On the issue of incapacitants, my colleagues and I are pretty much in agreement--States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) should establish clear boundaries between prohibited chemical weapons and toxic chemicals and delivery systems that are permitted for law enforcement purposes. Then they should develop mechanisms to ensure that states abide by their agreements.

New safety-focused rules, rather than strict compliance would make for a safer nuclear industry

Andrew C. Kadak — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:20:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The future of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

It's true that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has had lapses in enforcement of its rules by giving the benefit of the doubt to utilities. David Lochbaum provides reasonable examples of such lapses. Conversely, there have been commissions that have had such a focus on compliance that utilities were forced to follow rules that had minimal to no impact on safety, setting the entire focus on safety back 10 years, as the Millstone Unit 1 design basis reconstruction effort has shown.

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.

Climate prediction works well for some variables and poorly for others

James Murphy — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:20:00 -0600

Roundtable Topic: The uncertainty in climate modeling

When deciding what type of information to give users, climate scientists need to be discerning. For example, in the forthcoming U.K. Climate Impacts Program (UKCIP08) scenarios that Lenny refers to (and in which I'm involved), we plan to supply information on changes in a number of climate variables, at a range of space and time scales, for different periods during the twenty-first century. But what level of information can be given?

Getting scientists involved in arms control

Malcolm Dando — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:13:00 -0600

Earlier this month Macedonian Amb. Georgi Avramchev addressed the "Second International Forum on Biosecurity" in Budapest and stressed the importance of including scientists and scientific organizations in the proceedings of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). Delegations at BWC meetings have always included scientific experts, but Avramchev confirmed what many in attendance knew to be true, that scientists had not always been given the time or opportunity to contribute their expertise adequately.