Project on Nuclear Issues

The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) aims to build and sustain a networked community of young nuclear experts from the military, national laboratories, industry, academia, and policy communities.

About the Project on Nuclear Issues

Addressing an increasingly complex array of nuclear weapons challenges will require a solid foundation of expertise across numerous sectors. Because most of these challenges are long-term, the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) places a special emphasis on building and sustaining a vibrant community of young nuclear experts from the military, national laboratories, industry, academia, and the policy community. PONI maintains an enterprise-wide membership base, hosts four major conferences and several smaller events each year, maintains an online blog, holds live debates on critical nuclear weapons issues, runs a six-month academic program for young experts, and distributes bi-weekly news and event announcements to members.

Announcements

PDI Live Debate on De-alerting: John Steinbruner vs. Walt Slocombe. November 5, 6:00PM.
Registration is now open for the 2009 PONI Capstone Conference at U.S. Strategic Command on December 15.
PONI is on Twitter. Follow username csisponi.
We are now accepting applications for 2010 Nuclear Scholars Initiative. Click here for more information and application instructions.

Membership

PONI formally involves the U.S., UK and France, but also includes members from all over the world. Membership is open to anyone working on or studying nuclear weapons issues. Members receive a bi-weekly News Brief along with special invitations to PONI conferences, live debates, and other events.

PONI Membership Application

PONI Debates the Issues
Online blog pushes the debate forward with daily posts, original contributions by members, and guest commentary from senior experts.
Conference Series
Each year PONI hosts four conferences that bring together people from across the nuclear enterprise to discuss a range of nuclear issues.
Nuclear Scholars Initiative
Brings a select group of graduate students and young professionals to CSIS for a program consisting of six daylong workshops with senior experts from the field.
Comprehensive Framework for Integrating the Nuclear Debate
This project provides interested parties with a searchable database of all the major nuclear reports of the last 18 months based on a taxonomy created by the project to capture the key relationships between various aspects of nuclear policy.
PDI Live Debates
The debate series, an extension of the PDI blog, features top experts debating controversial nuclear issues one-on-one.
Reference Desk
The PONI Reference Desk is dedicated to keeping an informative and up to date catalogue of relevant nuclear information.
Nuclear Careers
Listing of employment opportunities and resources for jobseekers interested in nuclear science and policy.
PONI Member Access
Access to presentations and materials from PONI conferences and to the membership directory.
U.S.-UK Nuclear Cooperation After 50 Years
CSIS commemorated the 50th anniversary of nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and U.K. with a volume of selected essays and oral histories.

Multimedia

More Multimedia

Blog

Progress and Impasse in Syria
Nov 21, 2009
In its safeguards report on Syria released Monday, the IAEA noted a number of ongoing discrepancies between Syrian statements and evidence gathered from the suspected reactor that Israel destroyed at Al Kibar in 2007 and the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) under IAEA safeguards in Damascus. Syria refuses to discuss Al Kibar (aka Dair Alzour), and requests to view technical documentation of the destroyed building and access to its debris, the munitions that destroyed it, and any salvaged equipment remain unanswered. Traces of anthropogenic (chemically processed) natural uranium found at the site remain unaccounted for. While Syria alleges that the traces originated with the Israeli missiles used in the strike, it refuses to substantiate the claim, and the Agency has all but ruled this explanation out.
Toward a U.S.-U.K.-French Consensus on Nuclear Nonproliferation
Nov 20, 2009
This CSIS just released the final product of its U.S.-U.K.-France Trilateral Dialogues on Nuclear Issues. The final statement comes from a group of high-level "Track 2" participants who were assembled to discuss nuclear issues and identify areas of consensus between the three countries. The CSIS, led by CEO and President John Hamre, Senior Adviser Clark Murdock, and Non-Resident Senior Adviser Franklin Miller and with support from Fellow Jenifer Mackby and Research Assistant Chris Jones, hosted three meetings to develop and sharpen the statement.

The final statement, entitled "Trilateral Nuclear Dialogues: Toward a Common P3 Approach on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Energy Use, Disarmament and Material Security," focuses on the shared assumptions and objectives, common policy agenda, and specific initiatives and tactics that the three countries should focus upon over the next few years including at the May 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

In addition to outlining a number of specific initiatives the three countries should support, one of the key takeaways from the statement is the importance of priorities. The four main priorities identified are: 1) Strengthening the non-proliferation regime; 2) Pursuing disarmament; 3) Providing for the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and 4) Rapidly secure global nuclear inventories. And, according to the statement, focusing on these priorities will be critical to success: