James M. Acton Explained

James M. Acton is a British academic and scientist.^[1] He is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.^[2]

Early life

Acton was awarded his PhD in theoretical physics at Cambridge University.^[2]

Political views

In July 2024 signed an open letter against inviting Ukraine into NATO.^[3]

Career

Acton was a member of the faculty of the Department of War Studies at King's College, London.^[1]

Acton's research projects have included analyses of IAEA safeguards in Iran, verifying disarmament in North Korea and preventing novel forms of radiological terrorism.^[4]

Fukushima

In the context of the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, Acton was able to distill a succinct analysis which was widely reported.^[5]

• "Fukushima is not the worst nuclear accident ever but it is the most complicated and the most dramatic...This was a crisis that played out in real time on TV. Chernobyl did not."^[6]
• "The key question is whether we have correctly predicted the risk that a reactor could be hit by a disaster (natural or man-made) that is bigger than it is designed to withstand."^[7]

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about James Acton, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 7 works in 10+ publications in 1 language and 268 library holdings.^[8]

• The Use of Voluntary Safeguards to Build Trust in States' Nuclear Programmes: the Case of Iran (2007)
• Beyond the Dirty Bomb: Re-thinking Radiological Terror (2007)
• Abolishing Nuclear Weapons (2008), with George Perkovich
• Abolishing Nuclear Weapons: A Debate (2009), with George Perkovich
• Deterrence During Disarmament: Deep Nuclear Reductions and International Security, and Low Numbers: A Practical Path to Deep Nuclear Reductions (2011)

Notes and References

1. Library of Congress authority file, James M. Acton, no2009-183674
2. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, James M. Acton
3. Web site: The Nato alliance should not invite Ukraine to become a member.
4. http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=22426 "Carnegie Appoints Leading Expert on Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation,"
5. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/japan2_04-11.html "One Month After Tsunami, What Are Japan's Biggest Needs?"
6. http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/132391/20110409/japan-nuclear-crisis-radiation.htm "Analysis: A month on, Japan nuclear crisis still scarring,"
7. Owen, Jonathan. "More than one in 10 nuclear power plants at risk from earthquakes," The Independent (UK). 3 April 2011.
8. http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/identities/default.htm WorldCat Identities