September 14th, 2012

Study in Nature suggests wind power could meet global energy needs

Former Perry Fellow Katherine Marvel and colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published a major study challenging conventional ideas about the limits of wind power. Through simulations and models, they find that wind power could meet global energy needs but caution that growth will likely be determined by economic, political, or technical factors and not global geophysical limitations.

• » Geophysical limits to global wind power
• » Washington Post: Could wind power ever meet the world's energy needs?

September 4th, 2012

Higuchi: Fukushima Daiichi failures not uniquely Japanese

Toshihiro Higuchi, historian and 2011-2012 CISAC fellow, explains how the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident was not due to Japanese cultural shortcomings. He criticizes Japanese officials as using two sides of the the same coin: pre-Fukushima, they praised the safety record as a testament to Japanese self-discipline, harmony and professionalism. In the aftermath of the nuclear accident, they now say the failures are due to obedience, groupism, and narrow-mindedness. Blaming the problem on cultural factors prevents long-lasting reform.

• » Japan’s culture: Culprit of the nuclear accident?

August 27th, 2012

Fellows explore science & policy of nuclear power and weapons

A fascination with the political and scientific fallout of nuclear weapons and the complexities of nuclear energy is what drives CISAC's six nuclear fellows. The fellows – funded by grants from the Stanton and MacArthur foundations – spend their time at Stanford conducting research to build public engagement and shape government policy.
Read more »

July 26th, 2012

Department of Defense concerned about U.S. electric grid vulnerability

Paul Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and americas’ security affairs, and former CISAC senior research scholar, told a top homeland security conference that the U.S. electrical grid is extremely vulnerable to attack and natural disasters. Read more »

July 18th, 2012

A look back at the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization

KEDO’s profile on the North Korean landscape was unmistakable, its impact on Pyongyang profound. Yet real knowledge and understanding about the organization in public and official circles in South Korea, Japan, and the United States was terribly thin at the beginning, and remains so to this day. As a result, the lessons learned from KEDO's decade-long experience working with the North Koreans have been largely misunderstood. Read more »

June 18th, 2012

Forrest warns of potential blow to American scientific exceptionalism

Next year's proposed cuts in federal funding for scientific research and development could be as high as 8 percent, seriously impacting research in agriculture, energy and medicine. CISAC Postdoctoral Fellow Robert Forrest outlines how cuts would "profoundly inhibit innovation and deal an astonishing blow to American exceptionalism."

• » Huffington Post: Congress Could Deal Death Blow to American Scientific Exceptionalism

June 7th, 2012

Renewing ties among American and Russian nuclear scientists

CISAC Co-Director Siegfried Hecker made his 44th trip to Russia marking the 20th anniversary of America's collaboration with that country's nuclear scientists. He is writing a book about how the partnership has helped reduce the world's nuclear threat. Read more »