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362. The Case Against a Near-Term Decision to Reprocess Spent Nuclear Fuel in the United States
- Author:
- Matthew Bunn
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- MADAM CHAIRWOMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE: It is an honor to be here today to discuss a subject that is very important to the future of nuclear energy and efforts to stem the spread of nuclear weapons – reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Energy Policy, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States
363. Dawning of a New Era: The LNG Story
- Author:
- Henry Lee
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Spurred on by higher natural gas prices and a growing demand for cleaner fuels, interest in new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities has mushroomed. At the end of 2004, over forty new receiving and regasification stations were being proposed in the United States, and another ten were seeking siting approvals in Mexico and Canada. Even if less than ten percent of these projects are approved and built, more than twenty percent of United States gas demand may be supplied by LNG facilities by 2012. On the production side, the number of countries contemplating the construction of liquefaction facilities has doubled, and existing producers are scurrying to build more and larger facilities.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, and Mexico
364. Is Humanitarianism Part of the Problem? Nine Theses
- Author:
- Roberto Belloni
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The word “humanitarianism” describes the worldview, aspirations, professional vocabularies, and actions affirming the common dignity of humankind regardless of differences in race, gender, religion, national belonging, political creed, or any other accident of birth or contextual circumstance. The growing influence of human rights norms in international politics explains why humanitarianism has affirmed itself as a global ideology. While up to the end of the Cold War states, international organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) had to go to great lengths to justify their interference in the domestic affairs of other states, today the opposite is the case. States are under a great deal of pressure to explain why they do not want to intervene, either militarily, politically, or economically to promote and protect human rights. The assumption has turned in favor of such intervention, not against it. Humanitarianism seems on its way to radically changing the Westphalian international order.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Development, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
365. Expanding Coal Use While Protecting the Climate
- Author:
- John P. Holdren
- Publication Date:
- 03-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This country needs to expand coal use for electricity generation and for reducing dependence on oil and natural gas in other applications. But it also needs to take serious steps to reduce the risks from climate change. Reconciling these two objectives requires a three-pronged approach, as recommended in the recent report of the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy that I had the privilege of co-chairing: The first prong is to provide a market signal that begins to slow the growth of carbon emissions, but at a pace that doesn't force premature retirement of existing coal-fired generating capacity. The Commission's proposal for a carbon-emission permit system that starts in 2010, phases in gradually, and controls the permit costs with an initial "safety valve" price of $7 per ton of CO2 is designed to achieve this. The second prong is speeding up the commercialization of integrated gasification-combined-cycle multipurpose coal plants, which can produce liquid and gaseous fuels as well as electricity, which sharply reduce emissions of criteria air pollutants, and which offer the potential for affordable retrofit to capture CO2. The Commission proposes $400 million per year in federal early-deployment incentives over the next decade, in order to bring into operation 10 gigawatts of carbon-capture-capable IGCC plants. The third prong is accelerating the development and commercial-scale demonstration of the carbon capture and sequestration technologies needed to realize the potential of IGCC plants to drastically and affordably reduce their CO2 emissions. For this purpose the Commission has proposed $300 million per year in federal support over the next decade.
- Topic:
- Development, Energy Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
366. The National Gasification Strategy: Gasification of Coal and Biomass as a Domestic Supply Option
- Author:
- William G. Rosenberg, Dwight C. Alpern, and Michael R. Walker
- Publication Date:
- 01-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Natural gas provides 24 percent of the energy used by U.S. homes and businesses and is a vital feedstock for chemical, fertilizer, and other industries. Since 1999, natural gas prices in the U.S. have more than doubled, adding about $70 billion annually to U.S. natural gas customers and causing widespread adverse economic impacts, including high home heating bills, escalating commercial energy costs (affecting hospitals, schools, office buildings, and shopping centers ), substantial job losses in chemicals, fertilizer, and manufacturing industries, and financial distress in the electric power sector.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- North America
367. Demand Policy Instruments for R Procurement, Technical Standards and The Case of Indian Vaccines
- Author:
- Smita Srinivas
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Vaccines represent a nearly $8 billion global industry today , which is projected to grow to $10 billion in 2010 (PhRMA, 2001). In 2001, worldwide spending on R for “biologicals,” of which vaccines are the largest segment, was $1.1 billion (about 4% of total private pharmaceutical R) (PhRMA, 2001). Although vaccines com p rise only 2% of the global pharmaceutical market, it is indispensable for public health immunization the world over. Yet, at the same time, the number of private vaccine suppliers in advanced industrialised countries is shrinking (in the US alone, there were over twenty vaccine suppliers until the 1970s and now approximately five exist); firm s in developing countries must pick up some of this slack, especially for vaccines that are especially important for diseases prevalent in developing countries.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Human Welfare, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
368. Global Cleanout: An Emerging Approach to the Civil Nuclear Material Threat
- Author:
- Philipp C. Bleek
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Terrorists and states hostile to the United States and its allies are pursuing nuclear weapons. The acquisition of even primitive nuclear weapons by terrorists willing to sacrifice their own lives to kill thousands of civilians would be catastrophic, while nuclear proliferation to hostile states poses grave dangers.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States and Central Asia
369. Making New International Norms: The Small Arms Case
- Author:
- Denise Garcia
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper focuses on a significant puzzle in international security today: why did small arms control become prominent on the international agenda during the 1990s? And why did the international community attempt to regulate these weapons? This paper illustrates the emergence of small arms and light weapons on the international agenda and draws some parallels with the land mines case. Moreover, I outline how norm building processes is a fruitful research guide to examine these pressing questions of land mines and small arms proliferation management. The creation of international norms and the setting of widely agreed upon standards to control small arms and light weapons is central to the multilateral coordination of international responses to tackle the problems associated with their proliferation.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
370. Analyzing the Issue of Curbing the Unrestricted Availability and Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons: Some Implications for the Study of International Relations and for Education in Defense and Security
- Author:
- Denise Garcia
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper addresses one of the key issues in the international security agenda today: the control of the proliferation and availability of small arms and light weapons. It shows how the topic has become one of concern to the international community. It also indicates who the main actors involved in this process are. In addition, this paper examines the reasons why there is so much availability of small arms in the world today. These reasons are connected to changes in the international arms trade patterns after the Cold War. It seeks to demonstrate some implications of the rise of the issue of small arms into the international agenda, for the study of international relations and for education in defense and security. I am especially interested in the literature on norms and ideas that helps to explain the advancement of normative change. The present paper utilizes transparency as a case study with two aims. First, I want to illustrate how the rise of the norm of transparency sheds light on the study of norms in international relations. Second, I will contend that the rise of the small arms issue has also contributed to fostering the norm of transparency.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation