About the project

The project

This website is part of the project Transparency and Accountability in Nuclear Disarmament of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

About the authors

Tamara Patton is a Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme. Patton’s research focuses on the uses of satellite imagery, mapping, 3-D modeling, and other geospatial tools for analysis of issues relevant to nuclear non¬proliferation and disarmament. She was previously a Visiting Fellow with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. She has also worked with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the US Naval Postgraduate School’s Common Operational Research Environment (CORE) Laboratory and Remote Sensing Center, and the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Patton holds an MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a BA in International Studies from the University of Washington.

Pavel Podvig is Programme Lead of the Weapons of Mass Destruction programme at UNIDIR and Director of the Russian Nuclear Forces Project. Podvig started his work on arms control at the Center for Arms Control Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, which was the first independent research organization in the Russian Federation dedicated to analysis of technical issues of disarmament and non-proliferation. In recognition of this work, the American Physical Society awarded Podvig the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award of 2008 (with Anatoli Diakov). He has worked with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University, the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His current research focuses on the Russian strategic forces and nuclear weapons complex, as well as technical and political aspects of nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament, missile defence, and the US–Russian arms control process. Podvig is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials. He has a physics degree from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a PhD in political science from the Moscow Institute of World Economy and International Relations.

Phillip Schell is a Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme. Schell’s research focuses on security issues related to weapons of mass destruction arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation with a regional specialization on East Asia. Before joining the Institute, his assignments included the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Non-Proliferation Centre and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He has also worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Crisis Group. Schell holds an MA in International Policy Studies and Nonproliferation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and an undergraduate degree in Chinese Studies and Political Science from the University of Cologne.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank their colleagues who consulted with us on this study at various stages, encouraged us to continue this work, and contributed their own perspectives, comments, and suggestions. Special thanks go to Sean O’Connor, Nick Ritchie and Corentin Brustlein, who provided valuable comments, and to Karina Qian, who made an important contribution to the project at its early stages. The authors would also like to thank the staff of UNIDIR for their support and help. This project was generously supported by the Government of Japan.

Disclaimers

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the individual authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the United Nations, UNIDIR, its staff members or sponsors.