James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Dr. Alexander Kelle, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Director of Postgraduate Taught Programs at the University of Bath Claverton Down, talks about reasons why we should be worried about synthetic biology and what regulation or governance might look like at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). For more nonproliferation seminar videos visit http://nuketube.tv

Dr. Patricia Lewis, Deputy Director and Scientist-in-Residence, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), was the keynote speaker at the International Nuclear Safeguards Policy and Information Analysis Course held May 23 -27, 2011 at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). The course was sponsored by MIIS, CNS, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Dr . Lewis provides ideas for moving forward with the establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East by thinking beyond the limitations and seeing over the hurdles. She goes through the reasons why the Middle East is such a challenge in terms of verification and safeguards and offers some ideas for the ways forward on the verification regime. For more information on International Safeguards Policy and Information Analysis summer course, visit http://cns.miis.edu/edu/course_nucsafe.htm. For other nonproliferation seminars, visit CNS Nuke Tube at http://nuketube.tv

Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, PhD, Research Scientist & Adjunct Professor, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) reviews basic concepts of radiation, radioactivity, particles, etc. at the "Radiation and You: From Myths to Medical Facts" seminar, held at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) on May 10, 2011. The seminar was presented by the Monterey County Health Education Consortium and made possible by the following organizations: California State University Monterey Bay, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey County Health Department, Monterey County Medical Society, Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Natividad Medical Center, and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation at MIIS is a member of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (PERRC) and also conducts activities as part of the Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) program. For more information, please visit the Chemical & Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at http://cns.miis.edu/programs/cbwnp/index.htm

Patrick Feehan, PhD, Radiation Oncologist at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula lectures participants of the "Radiation and You: From Myths to Medical Facts" seminar, held at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) on May 10, 2011, on the health effects that may happen in Japan and the United States after the Fukushima disaster. He also talks about radiation threshold doses for cancer, lessons learned from Chernobyl, and unexpected exposures to radiation. The seminar was presented by the Monterey County Health Education Consortium and made possible by the following organizations: California State University Monterey Bay, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey County Health Department, Monterey County Medical Society, Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Natividad Medical Center, and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation at MIIS is a member of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (PERRC) and also conducts activities as part of the Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) program. For more information, please visit the Chemical & Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at http://cns.miis.edu/programs/cbwnp/index.htm

Richard Rupp, MD Radiologist at the Natividad Medical Center addresses concerns about radiation exposure to healthcare workers at the "Radiation and You: From Myths to Medical Facts" seminar held on May 10, 2011 at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The seminar was presented by the Monterey County Health Education Consortium and made possible by the following organizations: California State University Monterey Bay, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey County Health Department, Monterey County Medical Society, Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Natividad Medical Center, and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation at MIIS is a member of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (PERRC) and also conducts activities as part of the Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) program. For more information, please visit the Chemical & Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at http://cns.miis.edu/programs/cbwnp/index.htm

Dr. William Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and "Maichael and Barbara Berberian" Professor at Stanford University, was the keynote speaker at the workshop "Preparing for Nuclear arms Reductions, Technical Transparency and Monitoring Challenges", sponsored by the Institute of Nuclear Material Management (INMM) California Chapter and the Nonproliferation and Arms Control Technical Division Standing Committee on International Cooperation on May 5, 2011. The workshop was organized by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Dr. Perry played a vital role in the implementation and strengthening of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and joined with senator Sam Nunn, George Shultz and Henry Kissinger to promote a vision of the world without nuclear weapons and practical steps towards its achievement. For more videos on nonproliferation, please visit the CNS Nuke Tube site at http://nuketube.tv

The Monterey Institute's Irvine Auditorium was at capacity on the evening of April 20 when Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. and nonresident chair of the Middle East Nonproliferation Project at the Monterey Institute's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) spoke about the wave of change sweeping across the Middle East. The event was moderated by to CNS Deputy Director Dr. Patricia Lewis. Public interest in the event was high, with a broad cross-section of students, faculty and local community members in attendance. Ambassador Fahmy shared his experiences as a firsthand witness to the Tahrir Square revolution and his insights about the road ahead. He spoke in particular of his observations about the role of women and youth in demanding political change in Egypt and his hopes for the future of his country. "We were very pleased to welcome Ambassador Fahmy for this timely and important lecture on the implications of recent events in the Middle East for the U.S. and the rest of the world," commented Monterey Institute President Dr. Sunder Ramaswamy. "Nabil Fahmy has been a great friend of CNS and MIIS for many years and is in a unique position to offer his personal insights into current trends in Egypt and the Middle East," added CNS Director Dr. William Potter.

The Monterey Institute's Irvine Auditorium was at capacity on the evening of April 20 when Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. and nonresident chair of the Middle East Nonproliferation Project at the Monterey Institute's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) spoke about the wave of change sweeping across the Middle East. The event was moderated by to CNS Deputy Director Dr. Patricia Lewis.

Scott D. Sagan, The Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science and Co-Director, Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, evaluates international response to the 2010 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review. The research was conducted by a team of distinguished social science researchers and was published in a special edition of the Nonproliferation Review. For more nonproliferation multimedia please visit CNS NukeTube at http://nuketube.tv. For more information on the Nonproliferation Review, please visit http://cns.miis.edu/npr/index.htm

Dr. Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Richmond, discusses scenarios under which Taiwan would decide to develop nuclear weapons at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Dr. Jonathan Tucker, Senior Fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies talks about the ongoing debate over the destruction of laboratory stocks of the smallpox virus after the disease was eradicated over 30 years ago.

Ambassador James Goodby, Hoover Institution, Stanford University is a guest lecturer at the "U.S.-Russian START Plus Arms Control Simulation" at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Ambassador Goodby talks about his involvement with various U.S.-Russian nuclear negotiations, including the Start I treaty between 1981 and 1983, and the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program. The class, taught by Dr. William Potter, Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, is a simulation of U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction talks. Students assume the role of U.S. and Russian arms control officials in charge of negotiating a follow-up accord to the current START Treaty which will expire in December 2009.

Ambassador James Goodby, Hoover Institution, Stanford University is a guest lecturer at the "U.S.-Russian START Plus Arms Control Simulation" at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Ambassador Goodby talks about his involvement with various U.S.-Russian nuclear negotiations, including the Start I treaty between 1981 and 1983, and the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program. The class, taught by Dr. William Potter, Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, is a simulation of U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction talks. Students assume the role of U.S. and Russian arms control officials in charge of negotiating a follow-up accord to the current START Treaty which will expire in December 2009.

Dr. William Potter, director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies talks with the ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, about U.S.-Russian relations, including prospects for nuclear arms control, NATO expansion, and the Iranian nuclear program.

Miles Pomper, Senior Research Associate, talks about the prospects for reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

At a public seminar in Washington, DC, hosted by CNS on July 17, 2009, German Federal Foreign Office Minister of State, Gernot Erler reviewed Germany's disarmament and nonproliferation policies and introduced a major study by CNS entitled Four Emerging Issues in Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation: Opportunities for German Leadership. The study, written by CNS senior staff members Dennis M. Gormley, Patricia M. Lewis, Miles A. Pomper, Lawrence Scheinman, Stephen I. Schwartz, Nikolai N. Sokov, and Leonard S. Spector, addresses four issues whose management will be essential to advancing disarmament and nonproliferation objectives and identifies initiatives where Germany can contribute significantly to this process. The study is available at http://cns.miis.edu/activities/090717_german_leadership/index.htm

Between 1918 and 1970, the U.S. alone dumped CW agents in waters worldwide on at least 74 occasions. These disposals were no small undertaking, taking one fair example from this tour, in 1945 the U.S. military dumped 1,154 55ga drums of arsenic trichloride, 375T of adamsite smoke candles, 75,852 4.2in distilled mustard shells, ~56,000 smoke canisters, and ~23,000 smoke projectiles. This represents only one of dozens of dumpings conducted off the U.S. coast. While some dumping operations were carefully undertaken, including the keeping of detailed records; other dumping operations were done haphazardly with no or minimal written accounts of the disposal locations, quantities disposed or depths. So far the staff at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (http://cns.miis.edu) have located and chronicled 127 locations where either human exposure to or disposal of chemical weapons agents and/or munitions has occurred. We are virtually certain there are more disposal sites requiring attention hence we present this material in hopes of garnering further interest into this subject. Through this tour, we hope to highlight the global nature of this problem by showing you example disposal sites located around the globe; in locations ranging from the Bay of Bengal to areas west of San Francisco. The interactive map is located at http://cns.miis.edu/stories/090806_cw_dumping.htm

University of Tokyo Professors Jor-Shan Choi and Yusuke Kuno talk about a regional approach (Asia Pacific) for future nuclear fuel cycle for civilian use at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Bharath Gopalaswamy, Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University's Peace Studies Program, talks about infrasound detection to monitor nuclear tests at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Given North Koreas possession of missiles able to strike Japan, Pyongyang's April 5, 2009, attempt to orbit a satellite using a trajectory that passed over Japanese territory created ambiguity that might have caused Japan to believe it was under attack. Panelists will explore the rights and responsibilities of launching and overflown states in such circumstances. The panel, sponsored by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Georgetown Institute for International Law and Politics, featured Mr. Benjamin Baseley-Walker, Legal and Policy Consultant for the Secure World Foundation, Dr. Bruce MacDonald, Senior Director of the Strategic Posture Review Commission, and Dr. Catherine Lotrionte, Associate Director of the Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics.

Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center and author/editor of various books, talks about his most recent book: "Better Safe than Sorry: the Ironies of Living with the Bomb" at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He discusses reasons that could explain the astounding fact that since 1945 there has not been another mushroom cloud.

In 2008, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies initiated a study of Chinese and Russian perspectives on nuclear weapon policy, modernization, and disarmament in order to provide recommendations for engaging both countries in arms control efforts. Findings indicate that there is an important but limited window of opportunity for Washington to influence the role of nuclear weapons in Moscow's and Beijing's security planning. Dr. Jing-dong Yuan presents the essay "China and the Nuclear-Free World" and Dr. Nikolai Sokov presents the essay "Engaging Russia in Nuclear Disarmament: challenges and opportunities". The report is available online at: http://cns.miis.edu/opapers/op15/index.htm

Dr. Alexander Pikayev, former director of the Department of Disarmament and Conflict Resolution at the Moscow-based Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) talks abut the future of the US-Russia arms control regime at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Dr. Paul Richards from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, reviews the most important technologies for monitoring nuclear explosions in a variety of environments and the infrastructure associated with the monitoring effort at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS)

Thomas C. Reed, former Secretary of the Air Force and nuclear weapons designer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories talks about the book "The Nuclear Express", which he co-authored with Danny B. Stillman. At a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, he talks about the political history of nuclear weapons: where they came from, the surprising ways in which the technology spread, who is likely to acquire them next and why.

Stephen Schwartz, Editor of The Nonproliferation Review presents the main finding of the Carnegie Endowment report "Nuclear Security Spending: Assessing Costs, Examining Priorities" at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The purpose of the report was essentially an effort to quantify as best as possible how much money the U.S. is spending on an on-going basis on everything related to nuclear weapons, not just costs of supporting production and deployment, but also all the costs for command and control, communications, control networks, nuclear waste cleanup, and the costs of dealing with threats and compensation for people harmed by the production and test of nuclear weapons.

Dr. Pavel Podvig, Research Associate and Acting Associate Director for Research at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) answers questions from staff and students at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies about what can be done to consolidate fissile materials in Russia.

Dr. Pavel Podvig, Research Associate and Acting Associate Director for Research at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) talks about what can be done to consolidate fissile materials in Russia during a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. His presentation is based on work done for the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM - www.fissilematerials.org)

Dane Swango, a predoctoral fellow at Stanford University currently working on his Ph.D. dissertation at UCLA, answers questions after his presentation about the goals, design, implementation, and limitations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies on January 27, 2009

Dane Swango, a predoctoral fellow at Stanford University currently working on his Ph.D. dissertation at UCLA, talks about the goals, design, implementation, and limitations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to students and staff of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at a luncheon seminar on January 27, 2009.

Dr. Raymond Juzaitis, head of the Nuclear Engineering Department at Texas A&M University talks about the world nuclear "renaissance" and the nonproliferation challenges of countries' growing infrastructure for nuclear fuel cycle at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He highlights the need for proliferation resistant fuel cycle, nuclear materials awareness, and strengthening the scope and effectiveness of safeguards.

Dr. Raymond Juzaitis, head of the Nuclear Engineering Department at Texas A&M University talks about the world nuclear "renaissance" and the nonproliferation challenges of countries' growing infrastructure for nuclear fuel cycle at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He highlights the need for proliferation resistant fuel cycle, nuclear materials awareness, and strengthening the scope and effectiveness of safeguards.

Ward Wilson, grand prize winner of the 2008 Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Challenge Essay Contest talks about a new security paradigm at a luncheon seminar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He argues that the Japanese did not surrender because of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since nuclear deterrence relies on the threat of city destruction and city destruction is an ineffective way to wage war, he calls the efficacy of nuclear deterrence into question.

Dr. Frank Pabian, Senior Nonproliferation Infrastructure Analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory answers questions from students and staff after his seminar "Evidence from Imagery: The Iranian and Syrian Nuclear Program" at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

In this age of increasing "Global Transparency", commercial satellite imagery has now made it possible for anyone to remote peer over the fence and view what heretofore had been otherwise impossible...clandestine nuclear facilities (most significantly, those capable of producing fissile suitable for use in nuclear weapons). The synergistic combination of readily available tools: personal computers, the internet, three-dimensional virtual globe visualization applications such as Google Earth, and high resolution commercial satellite imagery has gone beyond what anyone could have imaged just a few years ago. The down-side of all this is that those who want to keep their clandestine nuclear facilities and associated activities from being either detected, identified, and/or monitored, are becoming more adept in their use of camouflage, concealment, and deception.

Thomas L. Sanders, Vice President/President Elect of the American Nuclear Society discusses energy future from an American perspective at a CNS lunchtime seminar. According to him, energy availability is directly tied to national economic health and the U.S. must change its energy posture to sustain and grow its prosperity.

Ambassador Richard Butler, former head of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) and Australian Ambassador to the United Nations, talks about his views on reaching international consensus for the elimination of nuclear weapons. This was a public event sponsored by the Graduate School of International Studies and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.