The Global Nuclear Future

The combination of increased worldwide energy demand and a concern over global climate change has prompted a diverse group of countries to turn to civilian nuclear power to meet their energy needs. Yet because nuclear power and nuclear weapons are inextricably linked by the technologies that provide the infrastructure for both, the rapid increase in the use of nuclear power poses a significant challenge to the international nonproliferation regime.

The Academy, through its Committee on International Security Studies, has developed a major new initiative with the aim of identifying ways to manage the global spread of nuclear energy to ensure that it does not result in a similar increase in nuclear weapons proliferation or nuclear terrorism. On behalf of their respective universities and international security research centers, project co-directors Steven Miller (Harvard University) and Scott Sagan (Stanford University) have joined with the Academy to form a consortium of institutions that will identify practical policy solutions to realize this goal.

The Academy is bringing together constituencies who do not typically communicate with one another – such as nuclear engineers and social scientists, nuclear industry leaders and environmentalists, and policymakers and regulators – to foster an interdisciplinary and international network of experts on the topic of nuclear energy and security. The Academy will inaugurate this effort with a workshop held in collaboration with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.



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