The initial efforts of the Oppenheimer Institute are centered in Russia and other countries of the Newly Independent States (NIS) and address the issue of reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction while improving the economic situation in these countries. In the post- cold war era Russia and its neighbors are seeking economic, political, and Social coherence while fighting precarious internal situations, including fiscal indiscipline, corruption, and declines in personal and environmental health. A major problem, but at the same time an important resource, are the ten closed nuclear cities that contain some three quarters of a million people. Russia no longer needs and certainly cannot afford this gigantic nuclear complex; funding levels are down by more than a factor of five from a decade ago. Since incentives for proliferation of nuclear materials and technologies exist, it is important both for Russia and the international community to find ways of redirecting weapons scientists, who represent a tremendous capacity of skills and advanced technologies, into the private sector. These scientists are available at bargain rates and constitute an important opportunity for Russian and western business; however, it is necessary to develop the necessary brokering intermediaries. Thus, prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, together with the longer term goal of eliminating such weapons, is a task with several dimensions; technical, political, economic, and social. The Oppenheimer Institute plans to work on all of these fronts.

 

The Oppenheimer Institute pursues its goal of reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction through three fundamental activities: 1) sponsoring policy-relevant research on various issues relevant to the production and distribution of weapons of mass destruction, 2) arranging international scholarly and scientific exchange through conferences, workshops, and student/faculty exchanges, and 3) developing public/private partnerships to promote technology commercialization, thereby transferring weapons-related capacities to the civilian sector.

 

Since its inception the Institute has been engaged in collaborations with professionals from Russian nuclear centers and universities, representing a joint Russian-American effort to contribute to international stability and promote economic development by creating new opportunities for weapons scientists in the civilian sector. One form of this international collaboration is represented by the Institute’s public/private partnerships to promote technology commercialization, transforming facilities and human capital from weapons-related specialization to civilian sector development. The Institute acts as a “technology broker”, bringing together partners from private, public, and NGO sectors to facilitate new civilian uses of technology. Our efforts are leading to partnerships in computer tomography programs, automobile parts production, computer software development, shipment identification and tracking, remote sensing, and other areas.