A few weeks ago the State Department took advantage of World Water day to announce the release of an National Intelligence Council report entitled “Water Security,” which assessed the possible effects of water shortages on U.S. national security over the next several decades. The NIC report’s “bottom line” was that “during the next ten years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems . . . that will risk instability and state failure, increase regional tensions, and distract them from working with the United States on important U.S. policy objectives.” Although this conclusion may very well be correct, the relationship between water security and U.S. national security is more complicated than one might infer from the framing. 

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The 2012 Nuclear Security Summit is currently underway in Seoul, South Korea, where 53 heads of state and international organizations have come together to discuss international cooperative measures to protect nuclear materials and facilities from terrorist groups.

The Nuclear Security Summit comes at a critical juncture. Global terrorist attacks have prompted concerns about nuclear terrorism, and many states may continue to shop for nuclear reactors to meet their energy supply needs, despite the horrific incident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Against this backdrop, world leaders are charged with the difficult task of agreeing on measures that will secure vulnerable materials around the world.

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March 11th marks the one year anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Japan. These natural disasters resulted in the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant. One year later, there are massive amounts of nuclear waste and high levels of radiation, and those citizens who live near the plant have not been able to return to their homes.

As a result of this crisis, many questions still remain. What is the future of nuclear power usage not only for Japan, but other countries such as the United States, South Korea, Germany and China? How should Japan properly dispose of the radioactive waste as a result of this accident? Finally, what should Japan’s new energy policy look like post-Fukushima?

Note:  The new report published by the Federation of American Scientists and Washington and Lee University, The Future of Nuclear Power in the United States, is available online here.

Nuclear power is all over the news today, yet there remains many unanswered questions regarding this power source.  A new article written by Dr. Frank Settle and Dr. Charles D. Ferguson, (editors of the recently published report, The Future of Nuclear Power in the United States), examines questions such as how nuclear power differs from other sources of electricity and future expansion of the nuclear power industry in the United States.

Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project, spoke on a panel hosted by the Arms Control Association regarding the future of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal in Washington, DC on January 20, 2012.

The transcript from the event is available online here.