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At least 19 records

SOME FOREIGN POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF SPACE SCIENCE

The startling developments in space science of the past few years which are already affecting the everyday conduct of our lives have introduced problems of new concepts and dimensions into the formulation and conduct of United States foreign affairs. We in the foreign policy field are now forced to speak matter-of-factly, and we hope confidently, of boosters, synchronous orbits, lunar landings, and meteorological satellites--terms which still seem slightly unusual in the diplomatic vocabulary. These developments have not only changed our vocabulary, however, they have forced upon us a whole new way of looking at the rest of the world and at the role which the United States must play in the international community.

United States↗

Fact Sheet: National Space Policy

For over three decades, the United States has led the world in the exploration and use of outer space. Our achievements in space have inspired a generation of Americans and people throughout the world. We will maintain this leadership role by supporting a strong, stable, and balanced national space program that serves our goals in national security, foreign policy, economic growth, environmental stewardship, and scientific and technical excellence. Access to and use of space are central for preserving peace and protecting US national security as well as civil and commercial interests. The United States will pursue greater levels of partnership and cooperation in national and international space activities and work with other nations to ensure the continued exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. The goals of the US space program are to: (a) Enhance knowledge of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe through human and robotic exploration; (b) Strengthen and maintain the national security of the United States; (c) Enhance the economic competitiveness and scientific and technical capabilities of the United States; (d) Encourage State, local, and private sector investment in, and use of, space technologies; (e) Promote international cooperation to further US domestic, national security, and foreign policies. The United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all humanity. "Peaceful purposes" allow defense and intelligence-related activities in pursuit of national security and other goals. The United States rejects any claims to sovereignty by any nation over outer space or celestial bodies, or any portion thereof, and rejects any limitations on the fundamental right of sovereign nations to acquire data from space. The United States considers the space systems of any nation to be national property with the right of passage through and operations in space without interference. Purposeful interference with space systems shall be viewed as an infringement on sovereign rights. The US Government will maintain and coordinate separate national security and civil space systems where differing needs dictate. All actions undertaken by agencies and departments in implementing the national space policy shall be consistent with US law, regulations, national security requirements, foreign policy, international obligations, and nonproliferation policy. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the principal forum for resolving issues related to national space policy. As appropriate, the NSTC and NSC will co-chair policy process. This policy will be implemented within the overall resource and policy guidance provided by the President.

Source record↗

Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Water Security

River basins for which transboundary coordination and governance is a factor are of concern to US national security, yet there is often a lack of sufficient data-driven information available at the needed time horizons to inform transboundary water decision-making for the intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. To address this need, a two-day workshop entitled Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Global Water Security was held in August 2017 in Maryland. The committee that organized and convened the workshop (the Organizing Committee) included representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and the US Air Force. The primary goal of the workshop was to advance knowledge on the current US Government and partners' technical information needs and gaps to support national security interests in relation to transboundary water. The workshop also aimed to identify avenues for greater communication and collaboration among the scientific, intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. The discussion around transboundary water was considered in the context of the greater global water challenges facing US national security.

Hakimdavar, Raha↗

Analyzing Foreign and Domestic Policy to Determine a Pathway to Achieving the US' NDC with a Focus on Advanced Reactors and Hydrogen

The United states in 2021 released a nationally determined contribution indicating goals to reach 50-52% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared with 2005 and to achieve zero carbon electricity by 2035. Current policy does not put us on course to achieve these goals, so we investigated policies that could form a pathway to achieve these goals in the US. We focused on the use of advanced nuclear reactors and hydrogen, but analyzed all relevant sectors to achieve our goals. This report also focuses on analyzing existing foreign policies and determining the most effective policies in each sectors. By combining the most effective policies from around the world in each sector, we find that we can set policies that form a pathway that is ambitious enough to meet the NDC goals.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

The Joint Convention, Its Global Impact and U.S Continuing Involvement - 16645

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (hereafter called the Joint Convention) is an international convention, conducted under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is one of a suite of international instruments dealing with nuclear safety and physical security, which serve to promote a global culture for the safe use of radioactive materials. Unlike other safety or security conventions, however, the Joint Convention deals exclusively with the end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The Joint Convention focuses on the lessons to be learned from past experience and existing facility operations, which can be implemented in the policies and designs for future operating facilities in the nuclear fuel cycle. The U.S. has participated fully in the review process, as well as setting forth initiatives to sponsor increased ratification. The U.S. holds the current Joint Convention presidency for the Fifth Review Cycle. Because of the important benefits associated with active participation, the U.S. has strongly supported a Regional Conference Initiative outreach program to increase membership. We also provided an expert for each of the conferences to assist in advancing the message to non-Member States, in particular developing nations considering ratification. The Joint Convention process also provides opportunities to identify future areas of bilateral and multilateral technical and regulatory cooperation with other Parties. Furthermore, the Joint Convention is consistent with U.S. foreign policy considerations to support, as a priority, the strengthening of the worldwide safety culture in the use of nuclear energy. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Collaborative Approaches in Developing Environmental and Safety Management Systems for Commercial Space Transportation

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) licenses and permits U.S. commercial space launch and reentry activities, and licenses the operation of non-federal launch and reentry sites. ASTs mission is to ensure the protection of the public, property, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States during commercial space transportation activities and to encourage, facilitate, and promote U.S. commercial space transportation. AST faces unique challenges of ensuring the protection of public health and safety while facilitating and promoting U.S. commercial space transportation. AST has developed an Environmental Management System (EMS) and a Safety Management System (SMS) to help meet its mission. Although the EMS and SMS were developed independently, the systems share similar elements. Both systems follow a Plan-Do-Act-Check model in identifying potential environmental aspects or public safety hazards, assessing significance in terms of severity and likelihood of occurrence, developing approaches to reduce risk, and verifying that the risk is reduced. This paper will describe the similarities between ASTs EMS and SMS elements and how AST is building a collaborative approach in environmental and safety management to reduce impacts to the environment and risks to the public.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)↗

Land remote sensing commercialization: A status report

The current offer by the United States Department of Commerce to transfer the U.S. land remote sensing program to the private sector is described. A Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued, soliciting offers from U.S. firms to provide a commercial land remote sensing satellite system. Proposals must address a complete system including satellite, communications, and ground data processing systems. Offerors are encouraged to propose to take over the Government LANDSAT system which consists of LANDSAT 4 and LANDSAT D'. Also required in proposals are the market development procedures and plans to ensure that commercialization is feasible and the business will become self-supporting at the earliest possible time. As a matter of Federal Policy, the solicitation is designed to protect both national security and foreign policy considerations. In keeping with these concerns, an offeror must be a U.S. Firm. Requirements for data quality, quantity, distribution and delivery are met by current operational procedures. It is the Government's desire that the Offeror be prepared to develop and operate follow-on systems without Government subsidies. However, to facilitate rapid commercialization, an offeror may elect to include in his proposal mechanisms for short term government financial assistance.

Bishop, W. P.↗

The international dimension of the National Space Program

NASA's international activities are summarized. A review of the authority, objectives, and policy for NASA's international activities is included, and examples of cooperative projects are presented. NASA's international activities' contributions to realizing US foreign policy are summarized.

Doyle, S. E.↗

Space Science and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Summary of a Workshop

The United States seeks to protect its security and foreign-policy interests, in part, by actively controlling the export of goods, technologies, and services that are or may be useful for military development in other nations. "Export" is defined not simply as the sending abroad of hardware but also as the communication of related technology and know-how to foreigners in the United States and overseas. The U.S. government mechanism for controlling dual-use items--items in commerce that have potential military use is the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the Department of Commerce; items defined in law as defense articles fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of State and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Because of the potential military implications of the export of defense articles, the ITAR regime imposes much greater burdens (on both the applicant and the government) than does the EAR regime during the process of applying for, and implementing the provisions of, licenses and technical-assistance agreements. Until the early 1990s export control activity related to all space satellites (commercial and scientific) was handled under ITAR. Between 1992 and 1996 the George H.W. Bush and the Clinton administrations transferred jurisdiction over the licensing of civilian communications satellites to the Commerce Department under EAR. In 1999, however, in response to broad concerns about Chinese attempts to acquire U.S. high technology, the U.S. House of Representatives convened the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People s Republic of China, also known as the Cox Committee. One of the many consequences of the Cox Committee's report was Congress's mandate that jurisdiction over export and licensing of satellites and related equipment and services, irrespective of military utility, be transferred from the Department of Commerce to the State Department and that such equipment and services be covered as defense articles under ITAR. Scientific satellites were explicitly included despite their use for decades in peaceful internationally conducted cooperative scientific research. It is widely recognized that the shift in regulatory regime from EAR to ITAR has had major deleterious effects on international scientific research activities that depend on satellites, spaceflight hardware, and other items that are now controlled by ITAR. Furthermore, contravening U.S. interests in attracting foreign students to U.S. universities, the capture of space technology by ITAR has caused serious problems in the teaching of university space science and engineering classes, virtually all of which include non-U.S. students. This report is a summary of a September 2007 workshop in which participants from the space research communities and the export-control administration and policy communities came together to discuss problems, effects, and potential solutions regarding the application of ITAR to space science. The principal themes and ideas that emerged from the discussions are summarized.

Finarelli, Margaret G.↗

Understanding the LANDSAT market in developing countries

The constraints on the growth of the market which stem from the development process itself and from a country's technical, political, and institutional attributes were examined. Four competing factors guide the development of policy regarding an operational land remote sensing system and are summarized. The factors are: there is a need to boost U.S. experts in areas where the U.S. holds a technological lead; the need to develop user applications in developing countries on their terms coincides with foreign policy; developing countries desire to take control of their own development; and the U.S. government wants to enlist the participation of major companies in the management, operation, and ownership of the operational system.

Willard, M. R.↗

Looking up, down, and sideways: Reconceiving cumulative effects assessment as a mindset

Despite all the effort that has gone into defining, researching and establishing best practices for cumulative effects assessment (CEA), understanding remains weak and practice wanting. At one extreme of implementation, CEA can be described as merely an irritant to the completion of a project-specific environmental assessment (EA). At the other extreme, the conceptual view is that all effects in EA should be deemed cumulative unless demonstrated otherwise. Our purpose here is to consider how we might reconceive CEA as a mindset that is at the heart of absolutely every assessment of valued ecosystem component (VEC) to ensure that we understand the relative contributions of various stressors and can decide when cumulative effects may foreclose future activities due to impacts on VECs. Conceptually, we ground the CEA mindset in the context of three lenses that must all be functioning and working together for the mindset to be operative: a technical lens; a law and policy lens; and a participatory lens. Our arguments are based on a review of the CEA, strategic effects assessment (SEA) and regional effects assessment literatures, an examination and consideration of Canadian EA and SEA case practice, and our combined professional experiences. Through using the Bay of Fundy in Canada as a case example, we establish the concept of the CEA mindset and an approach for moving forward with implementation. - Highlights: • Conceptualization of cumulative effects assessment as a mindset. • Elaboration of technical, law and policy and participation lenses critical to CEA • Coordination and integration of cumulative effects for valued ecosystem components • Application in Bay of Fundy ecosystem and terrestrial watershed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Resolving potential energy conflicts among allies: The 2015 United States-Republic of Korea nuclear cooperation agreement

After four years of sometimes contentious negotiations (that at one point required a two-year extension from the U.S. Congress), the United States and Republic of Korea signed a new nuclear cooperation agreement in the summer of 2015. These negotiations caused strain in one of the closest bilateral relationships the U.S. has in Asia – a regional priority for the foreign policy of the Obama administration. This paper examines energy conflict within the confines of an otherwise cooperative and productive partnership. It examines the strategic, technical, economic, and political factors that extended the negotiation period and the creative compromises that led to a final agreement. It then considers the potential pit-falls in implementing the agreement and the implications, in terms of process and substance, for future negotiations regarding civilian nuclear cooperation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

International trade and related economic activities in Central and South Asia are increasing as developing economies, particularly India and Pakistan, grow. China continues to emerge as a major regional and global power and has embarked upon numerous regional economic and political initiatives . A major development is the China - Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a host of infrastructure and trade projects worth over 40 billion American dollars . This report analyzes CPEC a nd its potential regional effects, including the trade security implications of the port and land infrastructure developments . As trade increase s in the reg ion and the major CPEC infrastructure projects are completed, there will be numerous implications on trade security and geopolitics within South Asia. CPEC projects uniquely intersect numerous regional situations, including territorial disputes in Kashmir, the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, and Chinese foreign policy a mbitions. A nuanced understanding of these effects can influence future policy adjustments in this region . The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sandia National Laboratories or the author's current and past institutions.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Report of a Workshop on Nuclear Forces and Nonproliferation Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC November 30, 2017

At a time which some view as the end of the post-Cold War era, geopolitics is increasingly fluid, complex and dangerous, including Russian and Chinese modernization of their nuclear and conventional forces nuclear and their increasingly aggressive foreign policies; North Korean nuclear and missile tests and provocations; Iran’s missile tests, regional ambitions and support for terrorism; Syria’s civil war and use of chemical weapons; and the growing global threat of Islamic terrorism. In this new security environment, potential adversaries are emboldened. Allies are reacting to more concrete and tangible threats. They are demanding greater assurances and, in some cases, questioning the credibility of the guarantees we offer and debating the pursuit of nuclear arms in ways we have not seen since the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was created.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

PRA technology and regulatory perspectives P-111

The course is divided into two parts. The first part of the course presents basic PRA concepts and terminology in a lecture format supplemented with student exercises, some exercises using actual plant PRAs, and required reading of agency PRA policy and guidance documents. This portion of the course includes a closed-book exam at the beginning of the second week. The second part of the course is a series of integrated workshops that build upon the material presented in the first part of the course. The second part culminates with an open-book exam at the end of the second week.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

U.S.-Russian Nuclear Arms Control: Crisis and Collapse or Crossroads? Workshop Summary August 2018

In this context, the first day of the workshop was dedicated to assessing the incentives and disincentives the United States and Russia face in pursuing further arms control agreements as well as the role of arms control in the two countries’ foreign policies and security strategies.On the second day, the workshop participants explored four pathways for a renewal of U.S.-Russian arms control, including:New START extension or a New START follow-on agreement; an agreement which meets Russia at least half way in the strategic space; an agreement addressing challenges to European nuclear stability; and unusual mix-and-match approaches that might be taken. The discussions and their results are summarized here.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Embassy Science Fellowship (Final Report)

Argentina is home to the highest number of professional scientists per capita in South America. How those human and natural (biodiversity, critical minerals, e.g.) resources are utilized has significant repercussions for the security of the Western Hemisphere and should be of significant interest to US foreign policy. As outlined in the US Secretary of State’s recent (25 Jan, 2025) op-ed, the current administration is seeking to reforge ties with Latin America through “partnership and co-operation” after several decades of varying levels of neglect, a palpable sentiment amongst Argentine scientists and government ministers. This presents an opportunity to provide specific guidance on how coordinated direct policy making, bilateral cooperation, and guided investment in those areas benefits Argentina directly as well as US interests in the hemisphere.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Energy and remote sensing applications

The nature of the U.S. energy problem is examined. Based upon the best available estimates, it appears that demand for OPEC oil will exceed OPEC productive capacity in the early to mid-eighties. The upward pressure on world oil prices resulting from this supply/demand gap could have serious international consequences, both financial and in terms of foreign policy implementation. National Energy Plan objectives in response to this situation are discussed. Major strategies for achieving these objectives include a conversion of industry and utilities from oil and gas to coal and other abundant fuels. Remote sensing from aircraft and spacecraft could make significant contributions to the solution of energy problems in a number of ways, related to exploration of energy-related resources, the efficiency and safety of exploitation procedures, power plant siting, environmental monitoring and assessment, and the transportation infrastructure.

Summers, R. A.↗