Colloquium Detail

Nuclear Power without Nuclear Proliferation?

Date: 6/8/2009

Scott Sagan
Stanford University

Concerns about global warning, energy security, and the costs of alternative energy sources have led to renewed interest in the growth and spread of nuclear power. This potential "renaissance" of nuclear power could occur, however, at a time in which the global threat of terrorism is rising and in which fears about the new states seeking nuclear weapons is growing. Professor Sagan examines the security challenges that must be met to prevent the spread of nuclear power from leading to the further spread of nuclear weapons or nuclear terrorism. Potential "solutions" to these problems include a new global approach to enhance physical protection of sensitive nuclear materials and new interpretations of key articles of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

Scott Sagan is Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.