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Scientist converts UK nuclear energy policy

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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

CHICAGO, Ill. The process by which Sir David King, Tony Blair's science advisor, refocused the prime minister's attention toward climate change and nuclear power was a "spectacular coup," according to Jonathan Leake, science and environment editor at The Sunday Times, where he has written extensively about the British nuclear power industry.

From the time of his appointment in 2000, the accomplished chemist, who is unafraid of controversy and deeply contemptuous of novelist Michael Crichton's skepticism about climate change, learned how to communicate with politicians to demonstrate "that by using an evidence-based approach, scientists can now tackle enormously complex things."

Also in this issue of the Bulletin: "America is full of fear from its north to its south, from its west to its east. Thank God for that," gloated Osama bin Laden in late 2001, confirming that fear-mongering among U.S. policymakers plays into enemy hands. John Mueller, who holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at Ohio State University, argues that "politicians are the terrorism industry's lead players," aided and abetted by the media's "congenital incapacity for dealing with issues of risk and comparative probabilities."

The upshot is "hopelessly ambitious" policies, wasteful expenditures, and endless hand-wringing, rather than international policing and context-based preventive and protective measures guided by sound risk assessments, says Mueller.

Elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin: A small, analytical team within the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Intelligence known as the Medical and Psychological Analysis Center (MPAC) provides policy makers "with assessments of the physical and mental health of key foreign actors." This could offer insights into the motivations and behavior of enemies and allies, according to physician Jonathan D. Clemente, who practices in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Other articles look at how nonproliferation divisions at nuclear weapons labs operate while "steeped in a culture that creates weapons of mass destruction," and how biosecurity experts are trying to reach consensus on definitions and strategies regarding bioweapons treaties, risks associated with biodefense labs, and types of dual-use life science research that should raise red flags.

ALSO IN THE MARCH/APRIL ISSUE OF THE BULLETIN

Small-scale arms control

A review of the Control Arms Coalition's report "Arms Without Boarders: Why a Globalised Trade Needs Global Control," by peace and security specialist Natalie J. Goldring, who says the U.S. is "anything but on board" with the coalition's proposal. The report "lays out what should happen to the global conventional weapons trade in clear and convincing fashion," says Goldring.

Turn back the Doomsday Clock

Internist Laura Kahn of Princeton University proposes in "The Zoonotic Connection" more research and training grants for veterinarians to study pathophysiologic processes across species and more money for wildlife surveillance, "as it is from this reservoir that many novel—and potentially deadly—infectious agents will emerge."

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READ THE MARCH/APRIL ISSUE ONLINE TODAY

A PDF of the current issue, along with additional columns and background data, is available on a complimentary basis at www.thebulletin.org.

ABOUT THE BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS:

Published continually since 1945, the award-winning Bulletin serves as a reliable source of analyses and information for the media, public, and global security and scientific communities. The Bulletin Online offers additional articles and regular columns by Laura Kahn, Hugh Gusterson, Richard Garwin, and Pavel Podvig, among others. Background information about the Doomsday Clock is also available.

For more information, contact Kendal Gladish at (773) 834-1810 or kgladish@thebulletin.org. http://www.thebulletin.org/index.htm


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