October 29, 2021
Roy Boone, NSRI Senior Policy Consultant
David Rehbein, NSRI Senior Policy Consultant
John A. Swegle, NSRI Senior Policy Consultant
Christopher Yeaw, NSRI Research Director for Nuclear Programs

Fundamentally, in this paper, we argue that Russian military planners and political leaders perceive a need for theater range, very- and ultra-low-yield nuclear systems in order to blunt the US/NATO air war that it expects as the inevitable opening gambit of any conflict with the West. Further, this employment of NSNW should be seen as Moscow’s most probable pathway across the nuclear threshold.

Download Paper

This paper relates closely to research the authors conducted for NSRI, but the conclusions in this report reflect the authors’ personal views. The data sources supporting this paper are all unclassified and publicly available.

October 26, 2021
Christopher Yeaw, NSRI Research Director for Nuclear Programs

The United States has entered into a dangerously new era in which, for the first time in our nation’s history, we now face two nuclear-armed great power competitors. Over the past three decades, while the United States has been focused on a variety of other national security challenges, Russia and China have observed the “US way of war” and made immense strides to position themselves to successfully counter that.

While having achieved some level of success in closing the gap across a wide spectrum of military capabilities and operational realities, those two nuclear-armed peers have concluded not only that limited nuclear employment might be required in any conflict with the United States, but that this is a domain of conflict and level of escalation affording unique advantage for them since it is an area in which the US has neither the perceived will nor the perceived capabilities to compete. This paper discusses that “escalatory attraction” of limited nuclear employment for our great power competitors.

Download Paper

This paper relates closely to research the authors conducted for NSRI, but the conclusions in this report reflect the authors’ personal views. The data sources supporting this paper are all unclassified and publicly available.

March 24, 2021
John A. Swegle, NSRI Senior Policy Consultant
Christopher Yeaw, NSRI Research Director for Nuclear Programs

In this paper, we reconsider China’s early production of weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) in the 801 Reactor at the 404 Plant in Gansu Province (or the 404 Plant reactor) and the 821 Plant reactor in Sichuan Province. Both are graphite-moderated, light-water-cooled production reactors that began operation in late 1966 and late 1973, respectively, and both have been shut down for decades (with the date of termination at issue between different assessments).

Here, we review two existing estimates of WGPu production with widely varying methodologies and results: Zhang’s 2017 estimate and Esin and Anichkina’s 2013 estimate. In addition, we provide our own estimate based largely on the information in Zhang’s estimate, but with a reconsideration of Zhang’s assumptions about the pace of production for 1980 and beyond and on his assumption about the closure date of the 821 Plant reactor.

Download Paper

This paper relates closely to research the authors conducted for NSRI, but the conclusions in this report reflect the authors’ personal views. The data sources supporting this paper are all unclassified and publicly available.

Integrative network analyses of transcriptomics data reveal potential drug targets for acute radiation syndrome

Tomáš Helikar, Robert Moore, Bhanwar Lal Puniya, Robert Powers, Chittibabu Guda, Kenneth W. Bayles & David B. Berkowitz 

Preperitoneal insufflation pressure of the abdominal wall in a porcine model

Riley E Reynolds Benjamin P Wankum , Sean J Crimmins, Mark A Carlson, Benjamin S Terry

Shedding of Marburg Virus in Naturally Infected Egyptian Rousette Bats, South Africa

Janusz T. Pawęska , Nadia Storm, Wanda Markotter, Nicholas Di Paola, Michael R. Wiley, Gustavo Palacios, and Petrus Jansen van Vuren

Lassa virus circulating in Liberia: a retrospective genomic characterization

M.R. Wiley, L. Fakoli, A.G. Letizia, S. R. Welch, J.T. Ladner, K. Prieto, D. Reyes, N. Espy, J.A. Chitty, C.B. Pratt, N. Di Paola, F. Taweh, D. Williams, J. Saindon, W.G. Davis, K. Patel, M. Holland, D. Negrón, Ute Ströher, S.T. Nichol, Shanmuga Sozhamannan, P.E. Rolin, J. Dogba, T. Nyenswah, F. Bolay, C.G. Albariño, M. Fallah, G. Palacio

Medical countermeasures during the 2018 Ebola virus disease outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a rapid genomic assessment

Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, Amuri Aziza, N. Di Paola, M.R. Wiley, S. Makiala-Mandanda, K. Caviness, C.B. Pratt, J.T. Ladner, J. R. Kugelman, K. Prieto, J.A. Chitty, P.A. Larson, B. Beitzel, Ahidjo Ayouba, N. Vidal, S. Karhemere, Mamadou Diop, Moussa M. Diagne, M. Faye, Ousmane Faye, A. Aruna, J. Nsio, F. Mulangu,  D. Mukadi, P. Mukadi, P. Mukadi, J. Kombe, A. Mulumba, C. Julian Villabona- Arenas, E. Pukuta, J. Gonzalez, M.L. Bartlett, S. Sozhamannan, S.M. Gross, G. P. Schroth, R. Tim, J. J. Zhao, J. H. Kuhn

2018 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Équateur Province, democratic Republic of the Congo: a retrospective genomic characterisation

Placide Mbala- Kingebeni, Catherine B. Pratt, M. R. Wiley, Moussa M. Diagne, Shelia Makiala- Mandanda, Amuri Aziza, Nicholas Di Paola, Joseph A. Chitty, Mamadou Diop, A. Ayouba, N. Vidal, O. Faye, Oumar Faye, S. Karhemere, A. Aruna, J. Nsio, F. Mulangu, D. Mukadi, P. Mukadi, J. Kombe, A. Mulumba, S. Duraffour, J. Likofata, E. Pukuta, K. Caciness, M. L. Bartlett, J. Gonzalez, T. Minogue, S. Sozhamannan, S. M. Gross, G. P. Schroth, J. H. Kuhn, E. F. Donaldson, E. Delaporte, M. Sanchez- Lockhart, M. Peeters, J. Jacques Muyembe- Tamfum, A. Alpha Sall, G. Palacio, S. Ahuka- Mundke

Role of copper oxide layer on pool boiling performance with femtosecond laser processed surfaces

Corey Kruse, Craig Zuhlke,  Dennis Alexander, Edwin Peng,  Jeff Shield, Sidy Ndao,  and George Gogos

Hidden in plain sight: The Liberian Lassa fever Endemic
M. Wiley, L. Fakoli, A. Letizia, J. Ladner, K. Prieto, N. Espy, J. Chitty, S. Sozhamannan, F. Bolay, C. Albariño, M. Fallah, and G. Palacios

Laser scanning confocal microscopy technique for imaging and measuring plastron attachment to a submerged superhydrophobic surface
Chongji Huang, Craig A. Zuhlke, Ryan Bell, Alfred Tsubaki, Troy P. Anderson, and Dennis R. Alexander

Qualitative profiling of the humoral immune response elicited by RVSV-ΔG-EBOV-GP using a novel systems serology assay, domain programmable arrays
M. Sanchez-Lockhart, D. Reyes, J. Gonzalez, K. Garcia, E. Villa, B. Pfeffer, J. Trefry, J. Kugelman, M. Pitt, and G. Palacios

Creation of micro/nano surface structures on silver using collinear double femtosecond laser pulses with different pulse separation
Nicholas Roth, Craig Zuhlke, Edwin Peng, Scott Hansen, Jeffrey E. Shield, and Dennis Alexander

Electrical and structural characterization of neutron irradiated amorphous boron carbide/silicon P-N heterojunctions
Michael Nastasi, George Peterson, Qing Su, Yongqiang Wang, N. J. Ianno, Nicole Benker, Elena Echeverría, Andrew J. Yost, J. A. Kelber, Bin Dong, and Peter A. Dowben

Genetic Characterization of enterovirus A71 circulating in Africa
Maria Dolores Fernandez-Garcia, Romain Volle, Marie-Line Joffret, Serge Alain Sadeuh-Mba, Ionela Gouandjika-Vasilache, Ousmane Kebe, Michael. R Wiley, Manasi Majumdar, Etienne SimonLoriere, Anavaj Sakuntabhai, Gustavo Palacios, Javier Martin, Francis Delpeyroux, Kader Ndiaye, and Maël Bessaud

Genomic characterization of human monkeypox virus circulating in Nigeria, September 2017
O. Faye, C. Pratt, M. Faye, G. Fall, J. Chitty, M. M. Diagne, M. R. Wiley, A. F. Yinka-Ogunleye, S. Aruna, E. N. Etebu, N. Aworabhi, D. Ogoina, W. Numbere, N. Mba, G. Palacios, A. A. Sall, and C. Ihekweazu

Formation of aggregated nanoparticle spheres through femtosecond laser surface processing
Alfred T. Tsubaki, Mark A. Koten, Michael J. Lucis, Craig Zuhlke, Natale Ianno, Jeffery E. Shield, and Dennis R. Alexander

Improved A-B10C2+XHY/SI P-N heterojunction performance after neutron irradiation
George Glenn Peterson, Qing Su, Yongqiang Wang, Natale J. Ianno, Peter A. Dowben, and Michael Nastasi

Growth mechanisms of multiscale, mound-like surface structures on titanium by femtosecond laser processing
Edwin Peng, Ryan Bell, Craig A. Zuhlke, Meiyu Wang, Dennis R. Alexander, George Gogos, and Jeffrey E. Shield

The criticality of collaborative planning
Sarah Mussoni, Gert-Jan de Vreede, and Alfred Buckles

Intrinsic beam emittance of laser-accelerated electrons measured by x-ray spectroscopic imaging
G. Golovin, S. Banerjee, C. Liu, S. Chen, J. Zhang, B. Zhao, P. Zhang, M. Veale, M. Wilson, P. Seller & D. Umstadter

Is social media a threat or can it be a trusted agent?
WD Ward, KS Cole-Miller, A Fruhling, K Dempsey-Cooper

U.S. energy sector cybersecurity: Hands-off approach or effective partnership?
Todd Ballou, Joseph A. Allen, Kyle K. Francis

Lethal brands: How VEOs build reputations
Ligon, G. S., Harms, M., & Derrick, D. C.

Shielded radiography with a laser-driven mev-energy x-ray source
S. Chen, G. Golovin, D. Haden, S. Banerjee, P. Zhang, C. Liu, J. Zhang, B. Zhao, and D. Umstadter, C. Miller, S. Clarke, and S. Pozzi

Tuning magnetic nanostructures and flux concentrators for magnetoresistive sensors
 Xiaolu Yin ; Yen-Fu Liu ; Dan Ewing ; Carmen K. Ruder ; Paul J. De Rego ; A. S. Edelstein ; Sy-Hwang Liou

Using the oldest military force for the newest national defense
Claus, B., Gandhi, R.A., Rawnsley, J. and Crowe, J.

Relying on the kindness of machines? The security threat of artificial agents
Eshelman, R., & Derrick, D., Joint Forces Quarterly (2015)

All-laser-driven thomson x-ray sources
All-laser-driven Thomson x-ray sources, Contemporary Physics, DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2015.1023519 (2015)

Tomographic imaging of nonsymmetric multicomponent tailored supersonic flows from structured gas nozzles
G. Golovin, S. Banerjee, J. Zhang, S. Chen, C. Liu, B. Zhao, J. Mills, K. Brown, C. Petersen, D. Umstadter, Applied Optics (in press, 2015)

Compact source of narrowband and tunable x-rays for radiography
S. Banerjee, S. Chen, N. Powers, C. Liu, G. Golovin, J. Zhang, B. Zhao, S. Clarke, S. Pozzi, J. Silano, H. Karwowski, and D. Umstadter, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B (in press, 2015)

Tunable monoenergetic electron beams from independently controllable laser-wakefield acceleration and injection
G. Golovin, S. Chen, N. Powers, C. Liu, S. Banerjee, J. Zhang, M. Zeng, Z. Sheng, and D. Umstadter, Physical Review St Accelerators and Beams Physical Review St Accelerators and Beams 18, 011301 (2015)

Wavefront-correction for nearly diffraction-limited focusing of dual-color laser beams to high intensity
B. Zhao, J. Zhang, S. Chen, C. Liu, G. Golovin, S. Banerjee, K. Brown, J. Mills, C. Petersen, and D. Umstadter, Optics Express (accepted) (2014)

Generation of 9 MeV γ-rays by all laser-driven compton scattering with second-harmonic laser light
C. Liu, G. Golovin, S. Chen, J. Zhang, B. Zhao, D. Haden, S. Banerjee, J. Silano, H. Karwowski, and D. Umstadter, Optics Letters 39, 14, 4132-4135 (2014)

Adaptive spectral-phase control for laser wakefield electron acceleration
C. Liu, J. Zhang, G. Golovin, S. Chen, S. Banerjee, B. Zhao, N. Powers, I. Ghebregziabher, and D. P. Umstadter, Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA (2014)

Tunable monoenergetic electron beams from staged ionization assisted laser wakefield accelerator
G. Golovin, S. Chen, N. Powers, C. Liu, S. Banerjee, J. Zhang, M. Zeng, Z. Sheng, and D. Umstadter, Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA (2014)

Quasi monoenergetic and tunable x-rays by laser compton scattering from laser wakefield e-beam
N. Powers, I. Ghebregziabher, G. Golovin, C. Liu, S. Chen, S. Banerjee, J. Zhang, and D. Umstadter, Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA (2014)