Posted on January 13, 2010

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Receives $1.6 Million in Grants

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has announced grants totaling $1.6 million in support of its Global Nuclear Future Initiative.

Grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will enable the academy to continue its efforts to convene experts from the research, engineering, industry, academic, and policy communities to find and promote ways of minimizing the potential security risks posed by the expansion of nuclear energy. The project aims to develop pragmatic recommendations for global nuclear growth that reduce the probability that a terrorist group could steal or acquire nuclear material from a nuclear facility; diminish the likelihood that new nuclear states will retain and reprocess spent fuel materials, which could facilitate their development of nuclear weapons; increase the focus of the nuclear industry on nonproliferation and security concerns; limit the number of states with uranium enrichment facilities; and strengthen the international nonproliferation treaty regime.

"We are grateful to these three foundations for partnering with the academy to address one of the great challenges of our time," said the organization's CEO, Leslie Berlowitz. "With more than five decades of experience working on nuclear arms control and energy security issues, and relying on a broad consortium of institutions and individuals, the American Academy is in a special position to contribute valuable ideas and policy advice in this area."