After Kim Jong-il
Intelligence seems to suggest that Kim Jong-il's 26-year-old youngest son has been tapped as his successor, adding another layer of complexity to the already complicated North Korean nuclear situation.
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Discarding tired assumptions about North Korea
Most analysis of North Korea's latest nuclear test starts from the errant premise that Kim Jong Il is a rational actor.
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The risks of North Korea's nuclear restart
Refurbished nuclear facilities could yield Pyongyang additional nuclear weapons, but the greatest risk remains that it would export nuclear materials or know-how.
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Is North Korea's reprocessing facility operating?
Just because air samples and satellite imagery haven't detected the telltale signs that Pyongyang is reprocessing its spent nuclear fuel doesn't mean that it's not happening.
A neglected climate strategy: Empower women, slow population growth
Instead of pouring resources into expensive geoengineering research, we should pursue low-tech reproductive health and women's empowerment programs that have widespread social benefits and can reduce CO2 emissions.
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A brief history of climate change and conflict
By identifying specific historical cases where a changing climate contributed to social instability, we can learn a lot about what today's societies can do to cope with climate change.
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Reflections on the U.N. climate change negotiations in Bali
The elusive road map to a global climate agreement begins with science--which is exceedingly clear about what our targets must be.
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Population and climate change
If people refuse to limit their resource consumption and subsequent carbon emissions, should we think about ways in which to limit the world's population? Our experts confront the final taboo in environmentalism.
The other Berlin Wall: How the Soviet bioweapons program was revealed
When Soviet scientist Vladimir Pasechnik defected to Britain in 1989, he confirmed what the West had long suspected about Moscow's secret bioweapon efforts.
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Bringing the Soviet military-industrial complex to life
Recently uncovered, private notebooks of a former deputy to a high-ranking Politburo member provide new understanding of the Soviet chemical, biological, and nuclear weapon programs during the Cold War's waning days.
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Biological threat reduction in Central Asia
Still coping with the residue from Soviet-era bioweapons programs, Central Asian scientists are using foreign assistance to improve their region's disease surveillance capabilities.
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How evil can prevail in state-sanctioned biowarfare research
When societies break down because of war or civil strife, it allows some physicians and/or researchers to act upon their worst prejudices.
Why South Korea needs pyroprocessing
A lack of space to store South Korea's spent nuclear fuel is becoming a critical limitation to expanding nuclear power there. Enter next-generation pyroprocessing and fast reactors.
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Reprocessing isn't the answer
With Yucca Mountain dead, the push to reprocess U.S. nuclear waste has begun anew--a bad idea according to one of the country's foremost scientists.
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Reprocessing is the answer
Advanced reprocessing technologies offer a path toward ending the use of fossil fuels, allowing the United States to be energy independent, and reducing the threat of proliferation.
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The future of GNEP
With or without GNEP, signatories are continuing to seek out nuclear technologies. Whatever the agreement, the international community's priority is on reducing proliferation risks.
Web Edition
Columnists
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Profile
When the H1N1 flu hits home
With the H1N1 vaccine in short supply and the flu epidemic recently declared a national emergency, hospitals will be overcrowded--meaning most health care for flu victims will happen at home.
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Profile
Bringing increased biological and chemical weapons provisions to the ICC
Despite some criticism, opponents of biological and chemical weapons recognize the opportunity for increased weapons control that lies in the next two meetings of ICC Member States.
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Profile
Reducing the role of nuclear weapons
The first step--the United States should declare a no-first-use policy, signaling to the world that its nuclear arsenal is for deterrence and deterrence only.
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Profile
When science is lacking, good leadership is critical
If an epidemic is caused by a novel agent that science hasn't figured out, leaders must use their best judgment and common sense in making policy decisions. Untold numbers of lives may depend on it.
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Profile
Closing the biology-security gap
Few policy makers can say they are familiar with the intricate connections between biology and security. But two recent publications point the way toward refocusing policy on this important relationship.
Analysis
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A technical evaluation of the Fordow fuel enrichment plant
An in-depth look at Iran's recently exposed secret fuel enrichment plant raises questions over intent and whether similar facilities will be discovered in the future.
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The status of U.S. nuclear weapons in Turkey
Washington eventually will need to reassess its deployment of nuclear weapons in Turkey, but removing the weapons while maintaining positive relations with Ankara will take careful diplomacy.
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After Kim Jong-il
Intelligence seems to suggest that Kim Jong-il's 26-year-old youngest son has been tapped as his successor, adding another layer of complexity to the already complicated North Korean nuclear situation.
-
The other Berlin Wall: How the Soviet bioweapons program was revealed
When Soviet scientist Vladimir Pasechnik defected to Britain in 1989, he confirmed what the West had long suspected about Moscow's secret bioweapon efforts.
Op-Eds
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Time to reconsider U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe
Washington continues to station 200 tactical nuclear weapons in five European countries, yet the reasons for deploying them there have become increasingly outdated.
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A unique opportunity to reach a deal with Iran
A win-win agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 nations is currently on the negotiating table--potentially the last best chance for a significant breakthrough in the Iranian nuclear crisis.
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Confronting twenty-first-century nuclear security realities
President Obama has outlined an aggressive strategy to address today's most dangerous nuclear threats. Here are six policies that will help make his agenda both successful and sustainable.
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Why South Korea needs pyroprocessing
A lack of space to store South Korea's spent nuclear fuel is becoming a critical limitation to expanding nuclear power there. Enter next-generation pyroprocessing and fast reactors.
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Climate change could be the next great military threat
Climate change is poised to challenge U.S. security at home and abroad by affecting military facilities, strategies, and resources. Adaptation must start now.
Special Topics
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Semipalatinsk: 60 years later
Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in what is today Kazakhstan. It did so with little regard for the local population's safety or health. Sixty years have gone by since the first test, but for the Kazakh people, the Soviet testing program still presents a complicated legacy.
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European missile defense reversed
It's official. The Obama administration announced today that the contentious Bush-era missile defense system proposed for Eastern Europe is no more. Russia welcomed the news; Poland and the Czech Republic were dismayed. But it's clear that administration officials agree with what Bulletin experts have said all along--the plan was rife with technical and political problems.
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The evolution of ElBaradei
Expected to be a conventional bureaucrat when he took office, Mohamed ElBaradei led the International Atomic Energy Agency through 12 years of tumult and set an ambitious course for the agency that some worry can never be realized. In a one-on-one interview and in interviews with those close to him, the Bulletin takes a look at the ElBaradei era and beyond.
Doomsday Clock
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Current Edition
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2009 world nuclear industry status report
Although some countries plan to build new nuclear power plants in the near future, in aggregate the data indicates that nuclear power's influence will continue to dwindle across the globe in coming decades.
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Interview: Michael Polsky
Even with the election of a renewable-friendly president and interest in clean energy booming, wind power entrepreneur Michael Polsky worries that a U.S. energy policy that encourages renewables is still a long way off.
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Evaluating solutions to the nuclear waste problem
Most global nuclear technology agreements lack an important characteristic: They don't address how to safely deal with spent nuclear fuel. But two proposals suggest that viable options do exist.
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The real path to green energy: Hybrid nuclear-renewable power
A targeted use of nuclear power could solve the major problems of renewable energy sources by providing carbon-emission-free power for biofuel refineries and backup energy for solar, wind, and other renewable sources.