At NSSPI, we believe that the university has an important role to play in the area of nuclear security and non-proliferation. The development and application of nuclear security sciences at present is occurring primarily at national laboratories around the world. A small number of universities study political and social science aspects of this field, but there is a marked deficit in university organizations that focus on the technical details of nuclear security sciences while, at the same time, understanding the policy implications of new technologies.

We work with faculty throughout the university in order to approach the question of nuclear security from many different disciplinary perspectives. We also work closely with national laboratories and government organizations. All in all, NSSPI's list of both internal and external affiliates is extensive in both range and depth and includes some of the brightest professionals in the field.

A list of our NSSPI affiliates may be found -->here.

Past NSSPI activities have included scientific and engineering research projects with Los Alamos, Sandia, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories.

A complete list of our NSSPI partners may be found -->here.

A list of our project funding may be found -->here.

Through its extensive network of affiliates, NSSPI maintains a broad range of capabilities. We have been involved in research related to proliferation resistant nuclear fuel designs, proliferation resistance assessments for fuel cycles, nuclear material safeguards development and analysis, development of portal monitors for detecting the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, modeling of nuclear smuggling routes, post-event nuclear material attribution, compilation of reactor data for international safeguards and safety purposes, developing methodologies for verifying the history of plutonium production reactors both pre- and post-decommissioning, generating techniques for the identification of covert nuclear weapons programs, and studying nuclear terrorism pathways.

For a more complete list of our capabilities, see the Capabilities section.

Personnel costs typically represent the major budget element for engineering research projects. While NSSPI research projects are directed and supervised by world-class PIs, NSSPI involves students heavily in all its research efforts, which leads to much lower average personnel costs. Second, as part of the Texas A&M University System, NSSPI has direct access to equipment, specialized research facilities, and top quality senior researchers across a wide spectrum of engineering and science disciplines. We "matrix in" these specialized people and facilities on an as-needed basis, paying only for the time we use them on a particular project. As a result, NSSPI carries no hidden costs for supporting a large staff and major facilities full time. Finally, overhead charges on NSSPI research contracts are among the lowest in the nation, especially considering the "national lab-like" character of our research capabilities. In addition, the state of Texas automatically reinvests a sizeable portion of these overhead charges back into NSSPI, enhancing our ability to conduct research at no extra cost to the customer.

NSSPI leads all technical Universities in nuclear nonproliferation research and education in the U.S.. Combining internationally recognized assets from the nation's largest nuclear engineering program with policy expertise from Texas A&M University's renowned George Bush School of Government and Public Service, NSSPI brings unmatched expertise to bear on complex proliferation challenges and provides students a unique learning experience that combines both technical and policy related courses.