The nuclear, biological and climate threat - 2011 reviewed

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/sp-tnb010612.php

[font face=Times, Serif]Public release date: 6-Jan-2012

Contact: Jayne Fairley
[email protected]
020-732-48719
SAGE Publications
[font size=5]The nuclear, biological and climate threat - 2011 reviewed[/font]

[font size=3]In this special issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, experts reflect on 2011 and highlight what to look out for in 2012 in the areas of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, biosecurity, and climate change. Topics that have made the headlines during the previous 12 months, including the increased tension surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, the aftermath of the Fukushima incident, and the state of US policy on climate change, are analyzed in detail in this special issue.

At the Doomsday Clock Symposium on January 9-10 in Washington, DC, the Bulletin's Science and Security Board will evaluate the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock. In 1947, the Bulletin first displayed the Doomsday Clock on its magazine cover to convey, through a simple design, the perils posed by nuclear weapons. The Clock evokes both the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero). In 1949, the Clock hand first moved to signal the assessment of world events and trends. The essays within this special issue are a glimpse into the topics the Bulletin's board will consider when evaluating the minute hand.

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The articles are available to access free for a limited period here: http://bos.sagepub.com/content/current

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[kristopher]

1. Nuclear energy 2011: A watershed year

Nuclear energy 2011: A watershed year
Mark Hibbs


Abstract

2011 was a watershed for nuclear power. In March, all eyes focused on Japan, where the world’s third severe accident at a nuclear plant unfolded. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station will have a paradigm-changing impact on the global future of nuclear energy, though its scope and direction still remain to be seen. The author reviews reassessments undertaken around the world after the accident in Japan and underlines Europe’s critical role in whether the future of nuclear energy will be global. Japan’s nuclear safety shock was sudden and dramatic. But 2011 also witnessed an incremental escalation of continuing crises in North Korea, Iran, and South Asia in the absence of effective global nuclear governance. The author points to the politicization of the International Atomic Energy Agency, its limited authority, and the inability of major powers to cooperate effectively as reasons that nuclear governance remains ineffective. This breakdown in global nuclear governance will also challenge the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which sets the rules for nuclear commerce. The author reflects on 2011 and highlights what to look out for in 2012.

http://bos.sagepub.com/content/68/1/10.full