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Nuclear Policy Talks

A project of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, the Nuclear Policy Talks (NPT) is a conversation about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and appropriate responses for the 21st Century. Several NPT events have been conducted in partnership with GW's Security Policy Forum, Homeland Security Policy Institute, and School of Media and Public Affairs, as well as external partners including the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and Global Zero.

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• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009

– 2012 –

Shadow NATO Summit III
Commitments, Capabilities, and Connectivity: Implementing NATO's New Strategic Concept

A Two Day Civil Society Shadow Conference Ahead of NATO's Chicago Summit
May 14 – 15, 2012

Co-sponsored with: The British American Security Information Council, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, NATO Watch, and Strategy International.

» Download draft agenda

Taking the King's Shilling: Adventures of a Physicist in National Security

May 2, 2012

• Peter Zimmerman, Professor Emeritus, King's College, London; Former Chief Scientist, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; and Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Ambassador Tom Graham on Unending Crisis

April 30, 2012

• Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr., Former Special Representative of the President for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament

Revolution in Nuclear Detection Affairs

April 25, 2012
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• Warren Stern, Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office , U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The Importance of the National Laboratories

April 19, 2012
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• J. Stephen Rottler, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Science & Technology at Sandia National Laboratories

The Nuclear Domino Myth: Why Proliferation Rarely Begets Proliferation

April 10, 2012

• Philipp Bleek, Assistant Professor, Monterey Institute of International Studies; Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Teaching the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: What do Policymakers, Practitioners, and the Public Need to Know?

April 6, 2012
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• Peter B. Lyons, Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy, The Department of Energ
• Olli Heinonen, Former Deputy Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency
• Richard Garwin, IBM Fellow Emeritus at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center
• Michael Rosenthal, Former Head of the Nonproliferation and Safeguards Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory
• Sharon Squassoni, Director and Senior Fellow, Proliferation Prevention Program, CSIS
• Joe Pilat, Program Manager, Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Seth Grae, President and CEO of Lightbridge Corporation

Reflections: International Nuclear Order and Disorder

April 2, 2012

• William Walker, Professor of International Relations, University of St Andrews

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Facilitating Nuclear Disarmament: Verified Declarations of Fissile Material Stocks and Production

March 20, 2012
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• Alexander Glaser, Assistant Professor, Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

Aftermath of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident

March 16, 2012

This panel discussion addresses the policies the nuclear safety agencies have adopted after the accident to keep the public safe and the effect of the accident on future construction of nuclear reactors. The panel is composed of international regulators, who present the initiatives taken by their agencies in the wake of the accident.
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• William D. Magwood, IV, Commissioner, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  Download the presentation
• Andre-Claude Lacoste, Chairman, Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN, France)
  Download the presentation
• Masashi Hirano, Associate Vice-President, Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES, Japan)
  Download the presentation
• Edward Kee, Vice-President, NERA Economics Consulting
  Download the presentation

Visualizing Nuclear Energy

March 7, 2012

• Michael Svoboda, Assistant Professor of Writing, GW; Contributor, Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media
  Download the presentation
• Laura Hermann, Senior Vice President, Potomac Communications Group

Kazakhstan and Global Nuclear Politics

February 23, 2012

• Togzhan Kassenova, Associate and Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Facilitating Nuclear Disarmament: Verified Declarations of Fissile Material Stocks and Production

February 20, 2012

• Alexander Glaser, Assistant Professor, The Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

Rethinking Nuclear Weapons

February 17, 2012

• Ward Wilson, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

From Moscow to Washington to Seoul: Locking Down Nuclear Material

February 13, 2012
Watch the video

• Laura Holgate, Senior Director, Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction, National Security Council

The Next Step for Arms Control: A Nuclear Control Regime

February 6, 2012
Watch the video

• Jan Lodal, former U.S. Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense; Immediate Past President, Atlantic Council of the United States

Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction

January 26, 2012

Panel I: Past and ongoing contributions of the Global Partnership to international security and WMD nonproliferation and threat reduction
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• Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs, U.S. Department of State
• Monte Mallin, Director of Strategic Planning, Office of Nonproliferation and International Security, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy
• Anita Nergard, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
• Bruno Dupre, Team Leader for CBRN Threat Reduction Programs, European Union

Panel II: The increased importance of coordination with and among international organizations in promoting WMD nonproliferation and threat reduction
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• Douglas B. Shaw, Associate Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs, GW
• Ludy Suryantoro, Advisor to the Assistant Director-General, Health, Security, and Environment Cluster, World Health Organization
• Khammar Mrabit, Director, Office of Nuclear Security, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, International Atomic Energy Agency
• Krzysztof Paturej, Director, Office of Special Projects, Technical Secretariat, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
• Anthony Thomas, CBRNE Programme Manager, INTERPOL

The Future of Nuclear Energy

January 25, 2012
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• Charles Ferguson, President, Federation of American Scientists; Author, Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know

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– 2011 –

China's Underground Great Wall Challenge for Arms Control

December 7, 2011
Watch the video

• Phillip A. Karber, Adjunct Professor, Government Department, Georgetown University

International Panel on Fissile Materials: Managing Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Reactors: Experience and Lessons from Around the World

November 22, 2011
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• Frank von Hippel, Co-Director, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University
• Johan Swahn, Director, Swedish NGO Office, Nuclear Waste Review

Project Azorian Risk vs. Gain: the CIA Attempted Recovery of a Soviet Ballistic Missile Submarine

November 14, 2011
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• Captain Murray R. Snyder, USN, PhD, PE Permanent Military Professor, Mechanical Engineering United States Naval Academy

What to do with America's Nuclear Waste?

October 13, 2011
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• Allison Macfarlane, Member, Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future; Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University

Taking Stock of Iran's Nuclear Program: What Does it Mean, and What are the Implications?

October 7, 2011
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• David Albright, Founder and President, Institute for Science and International Security

Tracking North Korea's Ballistic Missiles Sales: Implications for the Missile Technology Control Regime

September 13, 2011

• Joshua Pollack, Senior Policy Analyst, Science Applications International Corporation
• Dennis Gormley, Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Videos of this event:
» Watch Joshua Pollack
» Watch Dennis Gormley
» Watch the Q&A Session

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Standards & Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste

April 15, 2011

• Rodney C. Ewing, Edward H. Kraus Distinguished University Professor, University of Michigan; Visiting Professor, Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University

Global Zero Kickoff

April 8, 2011

• Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, U.S. Department of State
• Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, U.S. Department of State; Chief Negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
• Bruce Blair, President, World Security Institute

The Last Time We Were at Zero

April 4, 2011
Watch the video

• George Quester, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Visiting Professor of International Affairs, GW

Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: International Law and Policy Challenges

April 1, 2011

• Emma Belcher, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

The Oracles of Proliferation

March 30, 2011

• Benoît Pelopidas, Postdoctoral Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
• Robert S. Norris, Marshall Shulman Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
• Leonard S. Spector, Deputy Director, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Spent Fuel Reprocessing

March 28, 2011

• Thomas Shea, Nuclear Consultant

A Strategy of Nuclear Disarmament: Envisioning a World Free of Nuclear Weapons

March 24, 2011

• Anne Harrington de Santana, Nuclear Security Fellow, Stanford University

Interested in Learning about Nuclear Nonproliferation and Safeguards this Summer?

February 16, 2011

• Barclay Ward, Consultant to the Department of State and Brookhaven National Laboratory, Consultant to the Department of State and Brookhaven National Laboratory

Peace and Security Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations

February 11, 2011

• Katherine Magraw, Director, Peace and Security Funders Group
• Carah Ong, Consultant, Peace and Security Funders Group; third-year Ph.D. student studying American government and foreign affairs, University of Virginia

Iran's Nuclear Capability: Moving Beyond Breakout

February 9, 2011

• Ivan Oelrich, Former Senior Fellow, Federation of American Scientists
• Ivanka Barzashka, Visiting Scholar, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia

Addressing Iran's Nuclear Program at the IAEA

February 1, 2011

• Ambassador Glyn Davies, Permanent Representative of the United States to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Office in Vienna

Partner, Mediator, Spoiler, or All Three? Examining Turkey's Role in U.S. Nonproliferation Priorities

January 26, 2011

• Jessica C. Varnum, NTI Project Manager and Research Associate, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
• Leon Fuerth, Research Professor of International Affairs, GW
• Stephen Larrabee, Distinguished Chair in European Security, RAND Corporation

– 2010 –

Nuclear Dimensions to Triangular Relations: Issues over the Horizon

November 15, 2010
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• Bradley H. Roberts, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy
• Robert H. Legvold, Marshall Shulman Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
• Li Bin, Professor, Tsinghua University; Director, Arms Control Program, Institute for International Studies

U.S. Policy Toward Iran and the Gulf

November 10, 2010

• Andrew Parasiliti, Executive Director, IISS

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Continental Defense in the Eisenhower Era: Nuclear Antiaircraft Arms and the Cold War

October 21, 2010

• Christopher Bright, Author, Continental Defense in the Eisenhower Era: Nuclear Antiaircraft Arms and the Cold War

Eyes in the Sky, Eisenhower, the CIA and Cold War Aerial Espionage

October 20, 2010

• Dino Brugioni, Former Senior Official, CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center

Pakistan and India Under the Nuclear Shadow

October 13, 2010

• Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, Professor of Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Department of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad

Predicting Proliferation: Can Quantitative Models Provide Warning?

October 7, 2010

• Man-Sung Yim, Associate Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University

Commencement Address

May 13, 2010

• Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation

The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy

May 11, 2010
Sponsor: James Martin Center

• David Hoffman, author

Countdown to Zero: Pre-Screening

April 29, 2010

• Bruce Blair, Global Zero
• Matt Brown, Global Zero
• Nina Seavey, Documentary Center

Iran, the Bomb, and What I Learned from Four Dinners with Ahmedinejad

April 26, 2010
Watch the video

• Jim Walsh, MIT

Pax Atomica? Omniviolence, Arms Control, and Limited Government

April 22, 2010

• Daniel Deudney, Johns Hopkins

Strengthening the Regime

April 19, 2010

• Deepti Choubey, Carnegie Endowment

Nuclear Energy to 2030 and Implications for Global Governance

April 13, 2010
Watch the video

• Trevor Findlay, Carleton University

The New START: Provisions & Prospects

April 7, 2010
Sponsor: James Martin Center

• Nikolai Sokov, James Martin Center
• Miles Pomper, James Martin Center
• Larry Scheinman, James Martin Center

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South Korea's Interest in Pyroprocessing

April 6, 2010
Sponsor: James Martin Center

• Yongsoo Hwang, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute
• Frank Von Hippel, Princeton
• Larry Scheinman, James Martin Center

The Contribution of Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs) to the Global Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament Regime

April 23-24, 2010
Sponsor: US Institute of Peace (USIP)
Watch the videos
» Download the report

Splitting Atoms: Energy Security and Nuclear Power Development

March 4, 2010

• Matthew Fuhrman, U of S. Carolina

Institute for Global and International Studies Seminars Nuclear Superiority or the Balance of Resolve?

January 28, 2010

• Matthew Kroenig, Georgetown

– 2009 –

The U.S. Nuclear Deterrent: Are Smaller Weapons Better?

December 17, 2009
Sponsor: James Martin Center

• Keir Lieber, Georgetown University
• Daryl Press, Dartmouth University
• Michael Krepon, Stimson Center
• Ivan Oelrich, Federation of American Scientists

Global Fissile Materials Report 2009

December 10, 2009
Sponsor: Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

• Frank Von Hippel, Princeton
• Zia Mian, Princeton
• Alexander Glaser, Princeton
• James Acton, Carnegie Endowment

McElveny Nonproliferation Challenge

November 19, 2009
Sponsor: James Martin Center

• Jon Wolfshtal, Special Advisor to the Vice President for Nonproliferation
• Anne Harrington de Santana, University of Chicago
• Joshua Masters, NYU Law School

Future of Nuclear Safeguards

November 17, 2009

• Leonor Tomero, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Distinguished Women in International Affairs

November 10, 2009

• Ellen Tauscher, Undersecretary of State International Security & Arms Control

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A Nuclear Free World?

November 9, 2009
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• Ambassador Max Kampelman

Security Policy Forum: Iran's Nuclear Program after the Qum Inspection

November 3, 2009

• David Albright, Institute for Science and International Security

The Proliferation Consequences of Laser Enrichment Technology

October 26, 2009
Sponsor: Monterey Institute James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

• James Acton, Carnegie Endowment John Ahearne, Former Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Charles Ferguson, CFR

Nuclear Futures: The Prospects for Nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament

October 22, 2009
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• Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria
• Joe Cirincione, Ploughshares Fund
• Charles Glaser, Elliott School
• Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins

Interim Report of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism

October 21, 2009
Sponsor: Homeland Security Policy Institute
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• Former Senator Bob Graham, Chair
• Former Senator Jim Talent, Vice Chair

Barack Obama's Nuclear Policy

March 25, 2009

• Joe Cirincione, Ploughshares Fund

The Gelber Prize Lecture

April 2, 2009
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• Sir Lawrence Freedman, Kings College

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