First year Master of International Policy (MIP) student, Samuel McCoy, was recently accepted to attend the Nuclear Nonproliferation, Safeguards, and Security (NNSS) Summer Course at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York.

The NNSS course is designed to give students a sound understanding of the framework created by the international community to address the threats of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. The focus is on the central element of this regime, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its verification mechanism, the IAEA safeguards system.

The course presents students with critical assessments of current nonproliferation issues, confronts them with the hard choices needed to address them, and provides in-depth analysis of the technical and legal framework needed to assess policy options. Exercises and demonstrations introduce students to the techniques and technologies of international safeguards and the challenges faced by international inspectors in the field. Above all, the course aims to give participants the knowledge, analytic tools, and the motivation to contribute to the improvement of the nonproliferation regime.