Frank von Hippel on Nuclear Energy and Weapons Proliferation

• Published: April 26th, 2011

Program Summary

Princeton University physicist Frank von Hippel thinks the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation is one of the biggest risks to expanding nuclear energy around the world.

A former assistant director for national security in the White House Office of Science and Technology, von Hippel’s areas of policy research include nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, energy, and checks and balances in policymaking for technology. Prior to coming to Princeton, he worked for ten years in the field of elementary-particle theoretical physics. He has written extensively on the technical basis for nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament initiatives, the future of nuclear energy, and improved automobile fuel economy. He won a 1993 MacArthur fellowship in recognition of his outstanding contributions to his fields of research.