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Reducing nuclear dangers across the globe

By Claire Carlson '12
July 12, 2011

Page Stoutland '83 compares the Nuclear Threat Initiative's efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons to a long, arduous climb to the top of a mountain.

"And as our co-chair, former Senator Sam Nunn, says, we can't even see the mountain top yet," Stoutland says in describing the challenges he and other nonproliferation experts face.

Stoutland recently joined the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), where he serves as vice president for nuclear materials security. Established 10 years ago by Nunn and CNN founder Ted Turner, NTI is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that implements practical projects to directly reduce nuclear threats and catalyze government action.

A chemistry major at St. Olaf, Stoutland earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He later spent time as a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University and held positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Livermore National Laboratory, among other institutions, before joining NTI.

He shares how he became involved in nuclear nonproliferation issues, how the discussion surrounding nuclear weapons has changed since 9/11, and what keeps him up at night.

What about your work at Los Alamos Laboratory prompted you to pursue a career dedicated to nuclear nonproliferation?
In my view, scientists — and technical institutions — should always be looking to apply their skills to the highest-priority issues of the day. The threat of nuclear terrorism is one of the most pressing threats facing the U.S., and thus I have chosen to do whatever I can to address this threat.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities and duties at NTI?
I'm responsible for NTI's programs to promote the security of nuclear materials and to catalyze greater actions by governments. This takes many forms, including: the development of a nuclear materials security index that will assess materials security on a country-by-country basis; convening a high-level U.S.-Russian exercise to promote U.S.-Russian cooperation in addressing nuclear smuggling incidents; and organizing a forum to advance U.S.-Chinese cooperation on a range of nuclear topics.

How have the discussions surrounding nuclear weapons changed since 9/11?
As al-Qaeda is known to have expressed an interest in acquiring nuclear weapons and has demonstrated its commitment to mass casualty attacks, there has been greater attention paid since 9/11 to the potential acquisition and use of nuclear weapons by terrorist organizations.

How can the U.S. promote nonproliferation when it has its own stockpile of nuclear weapons? Does the U.S. have plans to decrease the number of its own nuclear weapons?
It is important for the U.S. to continue to meet its disarmament commitments as a way to promote nonproliferation. With the recent entry into the New Start Treaty between the U.S. and Russia, both countries are committed to reducing the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550.

What nuclear weapons issues keep you up at night?
There are a number of urgent issues. These include: the potential that a terrorist organization could acquire a nuclear weapon or nuclear materials; the potential for nuclear weapons to be used in South Asia; and accidents that could result from the high state of alert of thousands of nuclear weapons still maintained by the U.S. and Russia, despite the end of the Cold War.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.