The Nuclear Policy Working Group (NPWG) is an extracurricular educational programming effort sponsored by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC) with the aim of equipping students with the tools needed to engage in the ongoing debate on nuclear security policy. Through lectures from academics and practitioners, as well as from the students themselves, the NPWG provides members with a background in U.S. nuclear policy, the international nonproliferation regime, and technical and policy issues related to the U.S. nuclear stockpile. As a complement to the classroom-based instruction, students from both the technical and social sciences collaboratively engage in interdisciplinary nuclear security policy research projects in the technical areas of nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, nuclear chemistry and radiation detection and instrumentation. This talk will feature an overview of the NPWG's mission, educational programming and research projects in nuclear security policy. Ongoing expansion efforts of the NPWG to implement the working group model at the six partner academic institutions in the NSSC will be outlined. The NPWG complement the technical training afforded by the NSSC with education in nuclear security policy to address the need for knowledgeable practitioners in the nonproliferation field. This work continues the tradition of Dr. Kinard to provide quality education and hands-on training for students in the nuclear sciences, and to train the next generation of nuclear security experts.

Nuclear Security Science & Society: The Nuclear Policy Working Group

248th National Meeting (2014)

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