Search

Begin New Search Topic Nuclear Power Publication Year within 25 Years

241. Verifying a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty: Technical and Organizational Considerations

Author:
Shannon N. Kile and Robert E. Kelley
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Abstract:
In recent years there has been renewed momentum behind international efforts to open negotiations on a verifiable fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT). Should these efforts finally bear fruit, a key question that will have to be addressed in the negotiations is what organization should be given the responsibility for verifying compliance with the proposed fissile material production ban. One widely mentioned choice for this role is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in light of its long experience in implementing nuclear safeguards agreements mandated by the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Non- Proliferation Treaty, NPT). Many of the tools and procedures developed by the IAEA for safeguards purposes could be directly applied to verifying a future FMCT.
Topic:
Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, Governance, and Nuclear Power

242. NUCLEAR ENERGY AT A CROSSROADS

Author:
Peter Brezáni and Tomás Strázay
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
Less than one hour after the March 11, 2011 earthquake a massive tsunami inundated the nuclear site at Fukushima Daiichi with seawater. The damage caused by the flooding of the site resulted in loss of cooling to the three reactor units causing release of radioactive material to the environment. The nuclear accident was classified at Level 7. There are no doubts that many countries after the detailed analyze of Fukushima accident reconsider their energy policy and the oldest nuclear power plants will be closed or new projects will be postponed. Very important in these considerations will be the industrial status and outlook to the next decades.
Topic:
Nuclear Power

243. Moving towards Unity: Expanding the Role of the GCC in Gulf Security

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
The Riyadh Declaration, which was issued at the end of the GCC meeting in December 2011, calls for efforts to explore creating a “single unity” that could deal with the many challenges facing the Arab Gulf states.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Arabia

244. Post-Crisis Japanese Nuclear Policy: From Top-Down Directives to Bottom-Up Activism

Author:
David P. Aldrich
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Over the past fifty years, Japan has developed one of the most advanced commercial nuclear power programs in the world. This is largely due to the government's broad repertoire of policy instruments that have helped further its nuclear power goals. These top-down directives have resulted in the construction of 54 plants and at least the appearance of widespread support for nuclear power. By the 1990s, however, this carefully cultivated public support was beginning to break apart. And following the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 and resulting nuclear crisis in the Fukushima nuclear complex, the political and social landscape for energy in Japan has been dramatically altered. The crisis has raised and reinforced environmental concerns and health fears, as well as skepticism about information from government and corporate sources. A civil society that for decades has appeared weak and nonpartcipatory has awakened and citizens are carrying out bottom-up responses to the accident, effecting change with grassroots science and activism.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, Health, Natural Disasters, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Japan and Israel

245. Why Fukushima Was Preventable

Author:
James M. Acton and Mark Hibbs
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Public sentiment in many states has turned against nuclear energy following the March 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The large quantity of radioactive material released has caused significant human suffering and rendered large stretches of land uninhabitable. The cleanup operation will take decades and may cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Disasters, Governance, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Japan and Israel

246. Should Greenland Mine its Uranium?

Author:
Cindy Vestergaard and France Bourgouin
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The world uranium industry has been undergoing a resurgence since 2002, and current supplies are not meeting demand. This increase in energy demand, coupled with concerns about energy security, is fuelling commercial interests in mining uranium. In 2010 the Greenland Government decided to relax its zero-tolerance uranium policy and allowed mining companies to explore prospects for potential uranium mining. With Greenland having the potential to become a uranium supplier, there are a range of domestic and international policy challenges that need to be addressed.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Natural Resources, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Europe and Greenland

247. Prospects for Nuclear Security Partnership in Southeast Asia

Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Abstract:
Many nations in Southeast Asia view their growing energy needs as a looming crisis, one that could potentially be averted by development of civil nuclear programs. Timetables for nuclear development in the region are ambitious, but these ambitions often do not correspond with practical investment plans that are economically viable or logistically feasible. The feasibility and viability of nuclear development in these states is becoming even more complex when nuclear security and nonproliferation concerns are taken into account. While the events in Fukushima have cast a shadow over the pace of this expansion, several countries in Southeast Asia continue to show interest in nuclear power as a means to meet future energy requirements. For this reason, Southeast Asia remains a salient region in any global effort to manage nuclear security risks.
Topic:
Security, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia

248. Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA

Author:
Trevor Findlay
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
The IAEA is the principal multilateral organization mandated by the international community to deal with nuclear issues. Established in 1957 and based in Vienna, it is essentially the nucleus around which all other parts of the global nuclear governance system revolve. The IAEA has attributes and roles that cannot be matched by other organizations, groups of states or individual states, no matter how powerful or influential: It is a standing, multilateral organization, with near universal membership and a science and technology orientation. Its nuclear safeguards system and associated verification activity, including in the service of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and nuclear weapon-free zones, is unparalleled.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Natural Disasters, Governance, and Nuclear Power

249. The P5 +1, Iran and the Perils of Nuclear Brinkmanship

Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West have had their share of dashed expectations, but even by this peculiar standard, the recent diplomatic roller coaster stands out. Brimming with hope in Istanbul, negotiators crashed to earth in Baghdad, a few weeks later. That was not unexpected, given inflated hopes, mismatched expectations and – most hurtful – conviction on both sides that they had the upper hand. But if negotiations collapse now, it is hard to know what comes next. Washington and Brussels seem to count on sanctions taking their toll and forcing Iran to compromise. Tehran appears to bank on a re-elected President Obama displaying more flexibility and an economically incapacitated Europe balking at sanctions that could boomerang. Neither is likely; instead, with prospects for a deal fading, Israeli pressure for a military option may intensify. Rather than more brinkmanship, Iran and the P5+1 (UN Security Council permanent members and Germany) should agree on intensive, continuous, technicallevel negotiations to achieve a limited agreement on Iran's 20 per cent enrichment.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Europe and Middle East

250. A History of KEDO 1994-2006

Author:
Joel Wit, Robert Carlin, and Charles Kartman
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
Abstract:
When the South Korean fast ferry Hankyoreh sailed out of North Korean waters into the cold wind and waves of the East Sea on the morning of 8 January 2006, it carried a sad and somber group of South Korean workers, ROK officials, and personnel from the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). These were all that remained of a decade long multinational effort transforming what in 1994 had been only a paper notion into a modern construction complex of steel and concrete. KEDO's profile on the North Korean landscape was unmistakable, its impact on Pyongyang profound. Yet, real knowledge and understanding about the organization in public and official circles in South Korea, Japan, and the United States was terribly thin at the beginning, and remains so to this day.
Topic:
Development, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Israel, South Korea, and North Korea