CNS News & Views: February 2020

Middlebury Institute of International Studies

James Martin Center for

Nonproliferation Studies

Ian J. Stewart To Lead CNS Washington Office

CNS is extraordinarily pleased to announce that Dr. Ian J. Stewart has been appointed the new Executive Director of our Washington, DC, office.

Dr. Stewart joins CNS from King's College London (KCL), where he established and led KCL’s counterproliferation and trade initiative, Project Alpha. Previously, he served as a nuclear engineer with the British Ministry of Defence, working on nuclear deterrent and nonproliferation issues.

"Ian's leadership experience and exceptional insight into nonproliferation challenges and opportunities will be an important driver in CNS's research focus and strategy in the years ahead," said Dr. William C. Potter, founding director of CNS. "With his strong academic, technical, and policy background—as well as demonstrated organizing and management skills—Ian will be able to harness CNS’s existing talent and ensure our continued success in nonproliferation education and training.”

Dr. Stewart holds Masters degrees in nuclear science and technology and electrical and electronic engineering from KCL, where he also earned his PhD in 2011.

ICONS 2020

Senior Program Manager Margarita Kalinina-Pohl and Senior Fellow Miles Pomper report on the large and visible presence of CNS experts and alumni at the recent International Atomic Energy Agency's International Conference on Nuclear Security, or ICONS.

From presenting new research to updating stakeholders on ongoing initiatives—as well as winning and presenting awards—CNS experts engaged with many of the 2,000 government, regulatory body, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental representatives gathered in Vienna for the four-day conference which covered a range of issues related to nuclear security, including "insider" threats, transport security, and the use of emerging technologies.

Cyclotron for radionuclides synthesis and isotope production in an oncology laboratory in a hospital in Sofia

Permanently Reducing a Terrorism Risk

Senior Fellow Miles Pomper delivered a presentation on radioactive sources to the National Academies of Sciences on January 31. The panel was chaired by Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security Founder Bonnie Jenkins.

Pomper examined the varied and important uses for the five primary radionuclides identified as high-risk sources and discussed existing alternatives to their use in the fields of medicine, insect sterilization, oil and gas, and food industry. He also offered recommendations for encouraging more widespread use of these alternatives, including steps for the US government to take.

Monitoring North Korea's Illicit Maritime Activities

Research Associate Cameron Trainer appeared on the Small Arms Survey podcast to discuss North Korea's illicit maritime activities in violation of UN sanctions.

He explains how North Korea tries to circumvent the restrictions placed on it, and the tools he and others use to monitor and address the situation.

Listen now

The P5 Process and the Future of Arms Control

How will the evolution of arms control post-2020 affect the global nonproliferation regime broadly, and the P5 process specifically? VCDNP Research Associate Noah Mayhew addressed this question in his panel remarks at a conference organized by King's College London's Centre for Science and Security Studies and the European Leadership Network.

"If the P5 show disregard for arms control and nonproliferation now," he warned, they could endanger everything that the nonproliferation community has worked for over the past five decades. But if they demonstrate—"in an observable fashion"—that arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation really matter, it could revive what many see as a near-moribund arms-control regime.