Rethinking nuclear security efforts

What is the best way to prevent countries from acquiring nuclear weapons? The vast majority of nonproliferation efforts attempt to control access to sensitive technologies. However, a new study by Scott Kemp, an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, suggests that this approach might not be working. In an article published tomorrow in the journal International Security, Kemp examines the history of the most common proliferation technology—the gas centrifuge, used to extract a weapon-suitable isotope of uranium from a larger supply of that element—and finds that existing nonproliferation policies would not have stopped historical instances of its development.

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