Nuclear Issues

Presentation at the 13th PIIC Beijing Seminar on International Security: Building a World of Sustainable Peace and Stability, Oct.31 – Nov.3, 2012, Beijing, China

Matthew Bunn presented "Expected – or hoped for – outcomes of the Seoul nuclear security summit" to the 10th Annual RoK-UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Nonproliferation in Jeju, Republic of Korea.

This week, when the leaders of the G8 industrial democracies gather in France, their meeting will include discussions of what steps must be taken to strengthen global nuclear safety and global nuclear security  in the aftermath of the tragedy at Fukushima. The Belfer Center's Matthew Bunn and Olli Heinonen suggest new actions the world community should take in five key areas in order to prevent another Fukushima.

The authors of this article propose, summarize, and present strategic ideas as policy implications for China's decision-makers. In conclusion, they determine that China should enhance strategic planning and regulation from a life cycle viewpoint of the whole society, prioritize energy saving, continuously improve incumbent energy, and rationally develop alternative energy.

The Winter 2010/11 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights a major Belfer Center conference on technology and governance, the Center's involvement in the nuclear threat documentary Countdown to Zero, and a celebration of Belfer Center founder Paul Doty.

The Summer 2010 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights the Belfer Center's involvement with the Nuclear Security Summit, which was organized by Center alumni Gary Samore and Laura Holgate.

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Project on Managing the Atom Co-Principal Investigator Matthew Bunn provides a comprehensive assessment of global efforts to secure and consolidate nuclear stockpiles, and a detailed action plan for securing all nuclear materials in four years.  Securing the Bomb 2010 was commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). The full report, with additional information on the threat of nuclear terrorism, is available for download on the NTI website.

The Winter 2009-10 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. In this issue, Belfer Center scholars analyze the war in Afghanistan and potential impacts of options available to President Obama at this fork in the road. Center experts also offer commentary on how to prevent or live with a nuclear-armed Iran. The newsletter highlights U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a Harvard Kennedy School alum now a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, and Paula Dobriansky, former undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs and current senior fellow with the Belfer Center.

The Winter 2009-10 newsletter also features: the launch of a new Belfer Center initiative - Agricultural Innovation in Africa – headed by Calestous Juma; a discussion of biofuels as a possible solution for the developing world with Henry Lee; and a look at "Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture" by Mohammed Al-Juaied and Adam Whitmore. In addition, this issue welcomes Melissa Hathaway and discusses her work with the Belfer Center's cyber security initiative. The newsletter also pays tribute to Ernest May, world-renowned historian of international relations and foreign policy and a long-time Belfer Center colleague and member of the Center's board of directors.

Notable quotes from opeds and testimonies.

"...[T]he U.S.-Japan alliance will have to face a new set of transnational challenges to our vital interests, such as pandemics, terrorism, and human outflows from failed states. Chief among these challenges is the threat posed by global warming, with China having surpassed the U.S. as the leading producer of carbon-dioxide emissions (though not in per capita terms)."