LATE 2009 UPDATE

• Nuclear Energy & Climate Change (with Robert H. Socolow), Daedalus, 138 (4), Fall 2009, pp. 31-44.
• RELATED: Table of Contents of this special issue of Daedalus on nuclear energy.
• RELATED: Complimentary access to all articles of Daedalus, 138 (4).
• Global Fissile Material Report 2009 -- A Path to Nuclear Disarmament, co-edited with H. Feiveson, Z. Mian, and F. von Hippel, published by the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), October 2009.
• Nuclear Energy in the Transition to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World (with H. A. Feiveson), Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 50th INMM Annual Meeting, 12-16 July 2009, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
• A Dedicated Detector for the Verification of Highly Enriched Uranium in Naval Reactors (with F. Dalnoki-Veress), Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 50th INMM Annual Meeting, 12-16 July 2009, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
• Proliferation Risks of Fusion Energy: Clandestine Production, Covert Production, and Breakout (with R. J. Goldston and A. F. Ross), 9th IAEA Technical Meeting on Fusion Power Plant Safety, 15-17 July 2009, IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria.
• Global Stocks of Fissile Materials, 2008 (with Z. Mian), Appendix 8A in SIPRI Yearbook 2009, Oxford University Press, August 2009, pp. 380-383.

SUMMER 2009 UPDATE

• Isotopic Signatures of Weapon-grade Plutonium from Dedicated Natural-uranium-fueled Production Reactors and Their Relevance for Nuclear Forensic Analysis, Nuclear Science & Engineering, 163 (1), September 2009.
• Statement on Iran's Ability to Make a Nuclear Weapon and the Significance of the 19 February 2009 IAEA Report on Iran's Uranium-Enrichment Program (with R. Scott Kemp), 2 March 2009.
• RELATED: Allies' Clocks Tick Differently on Iran, The New York Times, 15 March 2009.
• Internationalization of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Commissioned Report for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, ICNND Research Paper No. 9, February 2009.
• RELATED: ICNND Research Reports.
• Verification of a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty: The Case of Enrichment Facilities and the Role of Ultra-trace Level Isotope Ratio Analysis (with S. Bürger), Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 280, No. 1 (2009), pp. 85-90.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH

Increased use of nuclear energy is now being considered as a strategy to support climate-change mitigation efforts. Our work focuses on the technical aspects of nuclear-energy use and related fuel-cycle technologies, and specifically on questions related to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Student projects could help assess selected reactor technologies and their fuel cycles, in terms of their technical feasibility, life-cycle economics, safety, proliferation resistance, and environmental impact.

• Nuclear Energy: Assessing the potential role of nuclear energy in a carbon-constrained world, with a particular emphasis on proliferation implications that would be associated with any significant expansion of nuclear energy; Assessing the viability of specific reactor and fuel cycle concepts considered for future use.
• Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament: Developing the technical basis for cooperative international policy initiatives to support nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament; Verifying a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT); Reducing --and eliminating if possible-- global stocks of fissile materials; Assessing fissile material production capabilities worldwide based on detailed reactor models and neutronics calculations.
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Detecting clandestine fissile material production; Converting research reactors to low-enriched fuel and eliminating highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the civilian nuclear fuel cycle; Improving safeguards on centrifuge enrichment plants; Limiting the use of proliferation-prone nuclear technologies in the nuclear fuel cycle.
• Nuclear Forensics: Determining signatures of plutonium from various types of dedicated production reactors; Determining signatures of highly enriched uranium obtained with different enrichment processes; Evaluating the role, capabilities, and limits of nuclear forensic analysis; Applying nuclear forensics to support nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament initiatives.
• Nuclear Archaeology: Another branch of our current work is focused on nuclear disarmament and the technical means to support it, especially with methods and technologies that can help verify nuclear disarmament. A possible area for independent research projects includes the development and assessment of new approaches to so-called "nuclear archaeology." This method seeks to verify declarations by states of their past production of nuclear materials for weapons purposes. Computer simulations of nuclear reactors can be an important part of this analysis in order to calculate the consumption and the composition of nuclear fuels over time.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Verification of a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty: The Case of Enrichment Facilities and the Role of Ultra-trace Level Isotope Ratio Analysis (with S. Bürger), Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 280, No. 1 (2009), pp. 85-90.
• Fissile Material Stockpiles and Production, 2008 (with Z. Mian), Science & Global Security, 16(3), 2008.
• Characteristics of the Gas Centrifuge for Uranium Enrichment and Their Relevance for Nuclear Weapon Proliferation, Science & Global Security, Volume 16, Nos. 1-2 (2008), pp. 1-25.
• Global Fissile Material Report 2008: Scope and Verification of a Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty, co-edited with H. Feiveson, Z. Mian, and F. von Hippel, published by the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), October 2008.
• The Gas Centrifuge and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation (with H. G. Wood and R. S. Kemp), Physics Today, September 2008, pp. 40-45.
• A Frightening Nuclear Legacy (with Zia Mian), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 64, No. 4, September/October 2008, pp. 42-47.
• Can Future Nuclear Power be Made Proliferation Resistant? (with Harold Feiveson, Marvin Miller, and Lawrence Scheinman), CISSM Working Paper, Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland, University of Maryland, July 2008.
• Verification of an FMCT: The Case of Enrichment Facilities (with Stefan Bürger), Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 49th INMM Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, 13-17 July 2008.
• Signatures of Weapon-grade Plutonium from Dedicated Production Reactors, Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 49th INMM Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, 13-17 July 2008.
• Computational Analysis of Signatures of Highly Enriched Uranium Produced by Centrifuge and Gaseous Diffusion (with Houston G. Wood), Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 49th INMM Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, 13-17 July 2008.
• Nuclear Forensics: Role, State of the Art, Program Needs, Report by the Joint Working Group of the American Physical Society (APS) Panel on Public Affairs and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy, Washington, D.C., February 2008.
• Resource Letter PSNAC-1: Physics and Society: Nuclear Arms Control (with Zia Mian), American Journal of Physics, 76 (1), January 2008, pp. 5-14.
• Global Fissile Material Report 2007, co-edited with H. Feiveson, Z. Mian, and F. von Hippel, published by the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), October 2007.
• Performance Gain with Low-Enriched Fuel and Optimized Use of Neutrons, Proceedings of the 29th International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), 23-27 September 2007, Prague, Czech Republic.
• Weapon-Grade Plutonium Production Potential in the Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (with M. V. Ramana), Science & Global Security, Volume 15, No. 2 (2007), pp. 85-105.
• Neutron-Use Optimization with Virtual Experiments to Facilitate Research-Reactor Conversion to Low-Enriched Fuel, Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 49th INMM Annual Meeting, 8-12 July 2007, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
• Fissile Materials: Global Stocks, Production and Elimination (with H. Feiveson, Z. Mian, and F. von Hippel), Appendix 12C in SIPRI Yearbook 2007, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 558-576.
• The Gas Centrifuge and the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (with R. S. Kemp), pp. 88-95 in Shi Zeng (ed.), Proceedings of the Ninth International Workshop on Separation Phenomena in Liquids and Gases (SPLG), 18-21 September 2006, Beijing, China, Tsinghua University Press, 2007.
• Nuklearterrorismus: Die vermeidbare Katastrophe? (with F. von Hippel), Spektrum der Wissenschaft, August 2006, pp. 68-75. See also exchange of letters to the editors, December 2006, pp. 8-9 (in German).
• Global Fissile Material Report 2006, co-edited with H. Feiveson, Z. Mian, and F. von Hippel, published by the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), September 2006.
• Brave New Nuclear World (Schöne neue nukleare Welt), with Z. Mian, published in German, Wissenschaft und Frieden, 3/2006, 24. Jahrgang, August 2006.
• Final Report to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF): Investigations on the Technical Options for the Conversion of the FRM-II Research Reactor, with M. Englert and W. Liebert, published in German, Interdisciplinary Research Group on Science, Technology, and Security (IANUS), Darmstadt University of Technology, June 2006.
• Optimization Calculations for the Use of Monolithic Fuel in High-Flux Research Reactors (with M. Englert and W. Liebert), Transactions of the 10th International Topical Meeting on Research Reactor Fuel Management (RRFM), European Nuclear Society (ENS), 30 April - 3 May 2006, Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Life in a Nuclear Powered Crowd (with Z. Mian), INESAP Information Bulletin, Issue No. 26, June 2006, pp. 4-8. This article has first been published in INES Newsletter, No. 52, April 2006.
• On the Proliferation Potential of Uranium Fuel for Research Reactors at Various Enrichment Levels, Science & Global Security, Volume 14, No. 1 (2006), pp. 1-24.
• Thwarting Nuclear Terrorism (with F. von Hippel), Scientific American, February 2006, pp. 56-63.
• Global Cleanout: Reducing the Threat of HEU-fueled Nuclear Terrorism (with F. von Hippel), Arms Control Today, Vol. 36, No. 1, January/February 2006, pp. 18-23.
• About the Enrichment Limit for Research Reactor Conversion: Why 20%?, Proceedings of the 27th International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), 6-10 November 2005, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Neutronics Calculations Relevant to the Conversion of Research Reactors to Low-Enriched Fuel, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Physics, Darmstadt University of Technology, April 2005.
• Monolithic Fuel and High-Flux Reactor Conversion, Proceedings of the 26th International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), 7-12 November 2004, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria.
• Beyond A.Q. Khan: The Gas Centrifuge, Nuclear Weapon Proliferation, and the NPT Regime, INESAP Information Bulletin, Issue No. 23, April 2004, pp. 50-54.
• Research Reactor Vulnerability to Sabotage by Terrorists (with G. Bunn, C. Braun, E. Lyman, and F. Steinhausler), Science & Global Security, Vol. 11, Nos. 2-3, December 2003, pp. 85-107.
• Mathematica as a Versatile Tool to Set-up and Analyze Neutronic Calculations for Research Reactors (with F. Fujara, C. Pistner, and W. Liebert), Proceedings of the 25th International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), 5-10 October 2003, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
• The Conversion of Research Reactors to Low-Enriched Fuel and the Case of the FRM-II, Science & Global Security, Volume 10, No. 1 (2002), pp. 61-79.
• On the Importance of Ending the Use of HEU in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: An Updated Assessment (with F. von Hippel), Proceedings of the 24th International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), 3-8 November 2002, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
• Bavaria Bucks Ban, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2002, pp. 20-22.

COURSES

• AST/MAE/PHY 309: Science and Technology of Nuclear Energy: Fission and Fusion
  Princeton University, Spring 2010
  with Rob Goldston
  Concern about climate change is creating the potential for a "renaissance" of nuclear fission power. The international ITER fusion experiment is being built to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion. This course will introduce the science and technology of fission and fusion. We will also cover societal risks, such as nuclear weapons proliferation, and societal benefits, such as reduced CO2 emissions. To make the course more accessible, technical material will be reduced from last year.

 

• WWS 594q: Policy Analysis: The Future of Nuclear Energy
  Princeton University, Spring 2010
  Interest is growing worldwide in nuclear energy as a low-carbon energy source that could help limit climate change. But nuclear energy is not just another energy source; it can facilitate the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the national prestige that has become attached to nuclear energy programs at times trumps the economics and energy-security arguments that shape energy policy. At the same time, public opinion on nuclear energy remains highly volatile, partly due to concerns about nuclear reactor accidents and long-term radioactive waste disposal. This course will explore current debates about nuclear energy and assess the prospects of the current "nuclear renaissance." We will briefly review the basic science and technology and current uses of nuclear energy, looking in particular at its economics and arrangements to prevent its use for weapons purposes. We also will analyze various policy proposals to facilitate the safe and rapid global expansion of nuclear energy.

SLIDES FROM SELECTED LECTURES AND TALKS

• Global Fissile Material Report 2008 -- Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty: Scope and Verification (with F. von Hippel, Zia Mian, and Jean du Preez), United Nations, First Committee, New York City, 10 October 2008.
• The Threat from Weapon-grade Highly Enriched Uranium, Panel Discussion: Getting Bomb-Grade Uranium Out of Civilian Hands: Beyond the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Washington, DC, 8 October 2008.
• Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty: Scope and Verification (with R. Rajaraman, A. Meerburg, S. Johnson, and F. von Hippel), IAEA General Conference, Vienna, Austria, 1 October 2008.
• Preventing Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: The Fissile Material Dimension, Future of Nuclear Energy Conference, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Chicago, IL, 26 September 2008.
• Nuclear Forensics: Capabilities, Limits, and the "CSI Effect" (with Tom Bielefeld), Science and Global Security Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 24 July 2008.
• A Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty and Its Verification: Progress Report from the International Panel on Fissile Materials (with Frank von Hippel), United Nations Office at Geneva, Palais des Nations, 2008 NPT Preparatory Committee Meeting, in cooperation with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), 2 May 2008.
• Toward a Global Cleanout of Nuclear Weapon Materials: Nuclear Weapon and Fissile Material Stockpiles and Reductions, United Nations, New York City, 19 October 2007.
• Detection of Special Nuclear Materials, Lecture for Topics in International Relations: Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WWS-556d), Princeton University, 16 April 2007.
• Dynamics and Control of Infectious Diseases, Lecture for Topics in International Relations: Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WWS-556d), Princeton University, 9 April 2007.
• The Gas Centrifuge and Nuclear Proliferation, Iran, the West, and the Region, The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD), Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton, 11 March 2007.
• Making Highly Enriched Uranium, Lecture for Topics in International Relations: Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WWS-556d), Princeton University, 26 February 2007.
• Satellite Imagery, Lecture for Topics in International Relations: Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WWS-556d), Princeton University, 19 February 2007.
• Effects of Nuclear Weapons, Lecture for Topics in International Relations: Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WWS-556d), Princeton University, 12 February 2007.
• Weapon-Grade Plutonium Production Potential in the Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, Princeton University, 13 December 2006.
• Brave New Nuclear World: The Expansion of Nuclear Power and its Relevance for the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Conference on the Future of Nuclear Energy, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the University of Chicago, 1-2 November 2006, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
• The Role of Neutron Scattering Simulations in Identifying Optimum Strategies to Convert Research Reactors to Low-Enriched Fuel, International Workshop on Applications of Advanced Monte Carlo Simulations in Neutron Scattering, 3-4 October 2006, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland.
• Life in a Nuclear Powered Crowd, Presentation at the "New Approaches to Cooperative Security" Workshop, Wye River Conference Center, Queenstown, Maryland, 14 June 2005.
• Neutronenphysikalische Berechnungen zur Umstellbarkeit von Forschungsreaktoren auf niedrig angereichertes Uran, Presentation in the Plasma Physics Seminar Series, Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt, 23 November 2004.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: ALEXANDER GLASER

• Since September 2009, Assistant Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
• Since February 2005, member of the research staff of the Program on Science and Global Security (SGS), Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.
• Since January 2006, member of the research staff of the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), www.fissilematerials.org.
• From 1999 to 2005, member of the research staff of the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Science, Technology, and Security (IANUS), Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany.

 

• Since July 2008, member of the Science & Global Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, www.thebulletin.org.
• In 2007-2008, member of a joint working group of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Nuclear Forensics: Role, State of the Art, Program Needs.
• Since 2007, member of the Independent Group of Scientific Experts (www.igse.net), which has been formed to develop and demonstrate technologies and procedures for remote environmental sampling for clandestine fissile material production and other novel methodologies.
• Since 2005, Associate Editor of the Journal Science & Global Security.
• From March 2000 to June 2001, Adviser to the German Federal Ministry of Environment and Reactor Safety (BMU, Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit).