The TISS Energy and Security Initiative (ESI) based at NCSU went through a period of leadership transition last year as Professor Man-sung Yim returned to South Korea to become Head of the Nuclear and Quantum Engineering Department at the Korea Advance Institute of Science and Technology. While we will all miss Man-sung's friendship and support for TISS programs, we have welcomed Associate Professor John Mattingly into the ESI. John previously worked at the Oak Ridge and Sandia national laboratories before coming to NCSU's Department of Nuclear Engineering and maintains an interest in nuclear security (broadly defined). Another ESI "new face" this past year was Dr. Byung-wook Lee, on leave from the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Dr. Lee is being hosted by the School of Public & International Affairs (SPIA) at NCSU through 2013 and is working on a research project, with TISS member Bill Boettcher, on alliance cohesion and economic cooperation between the U.S. and ROK. Despite the departure of Professor Yim, the Department of Nuclear Engineering (led by Professor Yousry Azmy) and College of Engineering (lead by Dean Louis Martin-Vega) once again provided substantial support for TISS and the ESI. As in the past, SPIA (lead by Director Rick Kearney) and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (lead by Dean Jeffrey Braden) provided the balance of TISS/ESI funding.

Each of these talks was well attended, timely, and provocative. We were particularly happy to welcome NCSU Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Economic Development Terri Lomax to the Woolsey luncheon and hope to involve her in additional ESI programs in the future.  

This year's ESI activities were once again augmented by a grant from the Atlantic Coast Conference International Affairs Collaborative (with matching funds from CHASS) for an undergraduate research project on energy and security. Five of Boettcher's students (including one from Nuclear Engineering) traveled to Atlanta, GA to participate in a two-day energy and security simulation with students from the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech University. This visit, hosted by TISS friend Adam Stulberg, culminated in participation in the 2012 Sam Nunn Policy Forum on "Energy and Security: Global Challenges, Local Opportunities"  (See Program) Boettcher's students presented portions of their research at an early May conference on "Shale Gas and Nuclear Power: The Bridge to a Renewable Energy Future?" which included Vikram Rao from RTEC, Trina Ozer from NC DENR, and Will Morgan from the NC Sierra Club. The ACCIAC-funded students finished the year with a visit to Washington, DC to meet the Senior Director of Federal Relations for ExxonMobil corporation, Susan Carter (a SPIA alumna), and the Deputy Director for Technology Strategy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs at the Pentagon, Dr. Adam Rosenberg.

 William Boettcher, Director of the Energy and Security Initiative

 Associate Professor of Political Science, NCSU

At NCSU the INMM Triangle Area Student Chapter looks forward to an exciting new year - over two dozen students attended its first meeting, organized by John Mattingly, Department of Nuclear Engineering. These included both engineers and political scientists. They will hold elections in the next few weeks. 

In keeping with our goal of stimulating interdisciplinary exchange, ESI is organizing a number of student -oriented events that will bring together engineers and social scientists. On September 20 students from Joe Caddell's nuclear security class will be joined by political scientists studying under Bill Boettcher and visit NCSU's nuclear reactor. They will then meet with nuclear engineering students over Howling Cow ice-cream to discuss nuclear technology. Students from both disciplines will also attend a meeting with James Acton, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on September 24 in Burlington Labs on the NCSU campus. The group will examine the proliferation risk of different laser enrichment, a technology under development here in North Carolina. 

The next morning James Acton will answer questions over breakfast in Chapel Hill about nuclear proliferation from TISS Wickersham Scholars, select undergraduates participating in Duke's Program in American Grand Strategy and UNC's Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense.  Fred Wehling, of the Monterey Institute will speak to students at UNC-Chapel Hill about "Terrorism via Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Weapons" on October 4. Following his presentation, he will answer questions about the Monterey Institute's unique programs. 

Our visit to Oak Ridge National Laboratory was so successful last year, that we are planning to make a return visit.  Wayne Lee, Director of UNC's Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense, Joe Caddell, Department of HIstory, UNC-Chapel Hill and Carolyn Pumphrey, TISS, will accompany a small group of NCSU, Duke, and UNC students to the lab. They will attend a day-long workshop on Global Nuclear Security on October 12. 

For further details about all of these programs, visit ESI's web page on the TISS web site: ENERGY AND SECURITY WEB PAGE.  While many of these student-oriented events are by invitation only, if you write to Carolyn Pumphrey at pumphrey@email.unc.edu, she will be glad to include you if space is available.