Nuclear Nonproliferation, Safeguards, and Enrichment
“South Africa repeatedly has stated its commitment to nuclear nonproliferation since it ended its nuclear weapons program and signed the Nonproliferation Treaty in July 1991,” observes a brief new report from the DNI Open Source Center, which also notes that “South Africa has a history of backing Iran’s ‘peaceful’ nuclear development.” See “South Africa’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Posture Remains Consistent” (pdf), Open Source Center Report, 9 April 2010.
“The implementation of international safeguards at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP) in Japan has been the largest challenge the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has faced to date,” according to a recent report on the development of nuclear safeguards. See “Lessons Learned in International Safeguards — Implementation of Safeguards at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant” (pdf), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, December 2009.
An overview of uranium enrichment programs around the world was prepared last year for the Department of Energy, based exclusively on open source information. See “Profile of World Uranium Enrichment Programs – 2009” (pdf), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, April 2009.
In recent months, we’ve seen much of these decades’ worth of progress erased. Contracts for evaluations of government programs were canceled, FFRDCs have been forced to lay off staff, and federal advisory committees have been disbanded.
This report outlines a framework relying on “Cooperative Technical Means” for effective arms control verification based on remote sensing, avoiding on-site inspections but maintaining a level of transparency that allows for immediate detection of changes in nuclear posture or a significant build-up above agreed limits.
At a recent workshop, we explored the nature of trust in specific government functions, the risk and implications of breaking trust in those systems, and how we’d known we were getting close to specific trust breaking points.
tudents in the 21st century need strong critical thinking skills like reasoning, questioning, and problem-solving, before they can meaningfully engage with more advanced domains like digital, data, or AI literacy.