nuclear reactor

New op-ed on diplomacy with North Korea, GAO intelligence review, new CRS reports and much more.

From the Blogs

• GAO Completes an “Intelligence Related” Review: Following years of controversy, the Government Accountability Office this week released an unclassified version of its long-awaited report on FBI Counterterrorism. The report itself comes as an anti-climax, but it is the first GAO report involving intelligence-related matters to be completed since the issuance of an intelligence community directive last summer which authorized GAO to gain access to certain intelligence agency information.  As such, it may herald a growing role for GAO in intelligence oversight.

• Secret Systems Clutter the Electromagnetic Spectrum: The difficulty that the military has in allocating the efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum for military operations is aggravated by the fact that some of those uses — involving intelligence platforms and sensors — are secret even from military planners themselves, a new Pentagon doctrinal publication notes.

• Another Reason to Avoid the Dentist?: Every so often it seems that dental radiation briefly makes an appearance as something that we wonder if we should be concerned about. Dr. Y investigates the effects of dental x-rays in a new post on the ScienceWonk Blog.

• “Traitor,” A Whitleblower’s Tale: Steven Aftergood writes that Jesselyn Radack’s memoir, Traitor: The Whistleblower and the American Taliban presents the moving story of a young attorney’s unexpected encounter with official misconduct, and the excruciating ordeal that ensued when she decided to challenge it. In 2001, Ms. Radack was a Justice Department attorney and specialist in legal ethics.  In response to an official inquiry, she advised that the newly captured John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban,” should not be interrogated without an attorney present — which he then was anyway.  When Department officials publicly denied having received any such legal advice, and even destroyed evidence to the contrary, she exposed the deception.

• The Evolving Mission of the Secret Service and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as the mission of the Secret Service, nanotechnology and an overview of U.S. energy supplies.

Publications

• Right Approach for Diplomacy with North Korea: FAS President Charles D. Ferguson writes in a new op-ed published by Kyodo News that with the failed April 13th launch of a North Korean rocket, an opportunity has opened up to form a more realistic and long-term plan to create dialogue and build trust with North Korea. The new North Korean regime may be signaling that it is receptive.

U.S.-Japan Nuclear Working Group Website

• FAS has partnered with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to convene a group of approximately fifteen American and Japanese experts and officials representing diverse stakeholder communities in the two countries’ nuclear energy activities.  Between March 2012 and April 2013 the working group will meet four times to discuss shared concerns at stake amidst the shifting political landscape for nuclear energy in Japan and the United States. To learn more about the working group, click here. 

Volunteer This Weekend with FAS

• FAS will have a booth at the 2nd Annual USA Science and Engineering Festival which will be held on April 28-29 in Washington, DC. We are looking for volunteers to engage the public with our hands on science activity, which will be explaning the role of science in policymaking. Please contact Melanie Stegman at mstegman@fas.org to volunteer. For more information on our booth and the festival, click here.

FAS in the News

• Apr 17: Huffington Post, “ICBM Coalition of Rural Senators Fights Nuclear Weapons Cuts”
• Apr 17: Wired – Danger Room, “Military Intelligence Gadfly Will Lead All Military Intelligence”
• Apr 17: Examiner.com, “U.S. Army General Michael Flynn Tapped to be Director of Defense Intelligence

Lessons learned from Fukushima, future of nuclear power, Russia’s nuclear forces and much more.

Fukushima: One Year Later

• Listen to the new edition of the FAS podcast series, “A Conversation With An Expert,”  featuring FAS President Dr. Charles Ferguson. In this podcast, Dr. Ferguson discusses the lessons learned from Fukushima, safety of U.S. nuclear plants, future of nuclear power use, and Japan’s new energy policy post- Fukushima.
• FAS President Dr. Charles Ferguson is the executive producer and featured in the Council on Foreign Relations nuclear energy multimedia guide, which explores the past, present and future of nuclear power.

• Fukushima- A Year Later: March 11 marks the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan, setting into motion the events that culminated in multiple reactor meltdowns. Dr. Y reflects on a few lessons we have learned as a result of this accident on the ScienceWonk blog.

• FAS President Dr. Charles Ferguson presented at a conference hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to examine the impact of the Fukushima accident. Dr. Ferguson spoke about the potential implications for the use of nuclear power post Fukushima and implications for safety, education, economics and waste disposal. You can view the slides from his presentation here.

• Japan’s Nuclear Dilemma:  In a new interview with Toni Johnson of the Council on Foreign Relations, FAS President Charles Ferguson spoke about Japan’s future energy program and states that Japan’s economy is taking a huge hit due to loss of significant power generation and high imported energy costs. Yet, Japan is not open to renewable energy as an alternative. Post-Fukushima, should Japan use nuclear power?

Yesterday, I presented at a conference hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to examine the impact of the Fukushima accident.

I spoke about the potential implications for the use of nuclear power post Fukushima and implications for safety, education, economics and waste disposal. You can view my presentation slides here.

FAS Roundup: February 13, 2012

New report on future of nuclear power, DoD inspector takes on classification oversight,  freedom of the press and much more.

Events

• On February 8, 2012, FAS honored Dr. Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, and Dr. Richard A. Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution for Science, at a dinner event in Washington, DC. Secretary Chu was recognized with the Hans Bethe Award and Dr. Meserve received the inaugural Richard L. Garwin Award for distinguished service. The evening’s Master of Ceremonies was John Holdren, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Adviser to the President. The distinguished guests included Congressman Rush Holt, General Brent Scowcroft, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Gregory Jaczko, NRC Commissioners Kristine Svinicki, George Apostolakis and William Ostendorff, and FAS Board Members. Stay tuned to our website next week for video of the event.

• FAS also released a new report produced by FAS and Washington and Lee University at a briefing on Capitol Hill on February 8, 2012. The report, on the future of nuclear power in the United States, was written by a distinguished group of experts who provided insights about the safety, security, building, financing, licensing, regulating, and fueling of nuclear power plants.  Speakers at the event included authors Dr. Albert Carr Jr., Mr. Stephen Maloney, Dr. Ivan Oelrich and Ms. Sharon Squassoni. Dr. Charles Ferguson and Dr. Frank Settle, editors of the report, served as moderators of the panel.

New Report on Nuclear Power

• In the wake of the devastating meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, many Americans are now reevaluating the costs and benefits of nuclear energy. If anything, the accident underscores that constant vigilance is needed to ensure nuclear safety. FAS and Washington and Lee University released a new report examining the future of nuclear power power in the United States.

From the Blogs

• Detention of U.S. Persons: What is the Existing Law?: When Congress passed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, it included provisions that authorized U.S. armed forces to detain persons who are captured in the conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces. However, Congress also said that those provisions did not provide any new authority to detain U.S. citizens or others who may be captured in the United States.

• DoD Inspector General Takes on Classification Oversight: In a move that can only strengthen and improve oversight of the national security classification system, the Department of Defense Inspector General has begun a far-reaching review of Pentagon classification policy. Among other things, the Inspector General review will focus on “efforts by the Department to decrease over-classification.”

• A Profession Nobody’s Heard Of: What does a health physicist do? Health physics is the profession that deals with radiation safety for people and the environment. Currently, there is a shortage of health physicists in the United States, and the majority of those running radiation safety programs are not trained radiation safety professionals. Dr. Y writes about what exactly a health physicist does, and their importance to the scientific community.

• Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin Online: The Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin is a quarterly journal published by the U.S. Army to promote awareness and discussion of current topics in military intelligence.  Although unclassified, the Bulletin is not made available online by the Army. Recent volumes can be found on the FAS website.

• Leaks, National Security, and Freedom of the Press:  A new book, “Who Watches the Watchman” by Gary Ross, explores the the phenomenon of leaks from multiple angles, including their history, their prevalence and their consequences.  Most interestingly, he considers the diverse motivations of leakers and of the reporters who solicit, receive and publish their disclosures. Some of these he finds defensible, and others not.

• The Radium Age: A century ago, people used radium to treat diseases (such as cancer) and even consumed to help one’s overall health. Radium was also used in products such as watch dials and fishing tackle. With today’s hypersensitivity to radiation this is hard to believe – but one of the reasons for today’s hypersensitivity to radiation might actually have something to do with the profligacy of earlier decades.

• China’s Vice President Visits the US, and more from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained new CRS reports on topics such as Iran’s threat to the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon and the uprising in Syria.

Volunteer Opportunity for DC Members

• FAS will have a booth at the 2nd Annual USA Science and Engineering Festival which will be held on April 28-29 in Washington, DC. We are looking for volunteers to staff our booth-come share your knowledge and career experiences with festival attendees! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Melanie Stegman at mstegman@fas.org.For more information on our booth and the festival, click here.     
  

FAS in the News

• Feb 9: PhysOrg.com, “Carnegie’s Richard Meserve Receives Inaugural Richard Garwin Award”
• Feb 9: EurekAlert, ”Carnegie’s Richard Meserve Recieves Inaugural Garwin Award”
• Feb 8: Government Security News, “Study Says Nuclear Plant Designs Need Stepped Up Attention to Security”
• Feb 8: DefenseNews.com, ”IG Reviewing Overclassification at DOD”
• Feb 7: New York Times – The Lede, “Among Liberties Advocates, Outrage Over Expanded Use of Drones”
• Feb 7: Washington Times, “Drones Over U.S. Gets OK By Congress”
• Feb 6: Mother Jones, “Obama’s Golden Nuclear Option”

I am excited to tell you that I will appear on PBS’s Frontline on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.  In “Nuclear Aftershocks,” Miles O’Brien examines the hazards and benefits of nuclear energy. I will be speaking about the implications for U.S. nuclear safety after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan last March.

For more information on the episode, click here.

You can find a preview of the episode here.

I encourage you to tune in.  Please check local listings for air times of “Nuclear Aftershocks” on your PBS station.