Processing incentives for Russian weapons-grade plutonium

Includes bibliographical references (page 10

Elements in an educational preparation for middle school teachers

This research investigated the importance of selected aspects of the professional preparation for middle school teachers. The purpose was to determine perceptions of middle school teachers concerning the importance of twelve frequently recommended teacher preparation courses. Differences in perceptions were explored for subgroups identified by type of endorsement held (elementary or secondary), sex, and years of teaching experience. The sample consisted of Iowa middle school teachers employed during the 1986 spring semester. The sample was stratified and proportional among districts, random within districts. The data were collected through the use of a questionnaire, constructed in two parts. The initial section used a Likert scale to assess the perceptions of the sample relative to twelve curricular components in teacher preparation programs. The second section of the questionnaire requested demographic data. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test of independence, with significance set at the 0.05 level of confidence. Data were also reported descriptively, with mean importance values provided for each of the twelve courses individually and by categories of academic, experiential, and combined course indices. The sample respondents believed that eleven of the twelve courses were desirable teacher preparation for middle school teachers, with Classroom Management, Student Teaching, and Field Experiences rated as most important. These three courses were classified as experiential courses; the sample perceived the six experiential-oriented courses to be of more importance than the six academic-oriented courses for inclusion in preparatory curriculum for middle school teachers. The responses of the importance of the twelve courses were analyzed for three subgroups: endorsement, sex, and years of teaching experience. Responses were found to be significantly different for three courses with reference to endorsement, with elementary-prepared respondents rating the courses higher; six courses in terms of sex, with females rating the courses higher; and two courses in reference to years of experience, with the most experienced respondents rating the courses higher. These perceptions of Iowa middle school teachers may provide information to Colleges of Education considering preservice and inservice programs designed to prepare middle school teachers. State departments of education may also utilize the data in considering criteria for middle school teacher certification

Associations Between Achievement Goal Orientations, Preferred Learning Practices, and Motivational Evaluations of Learning Environment Among Finnish Military Reservists

In this study, it was examined whether individuals' self-efficacy, preferred forms in learning, and evaluations of the learning environment vary as a function of their goal orientation profiles. It was also explored whether the preferred forms in learning played a role in this association. The participants were 177 reservists of Finnish Defense Forces participating in rehearsal training exercises. Four homogeneous groups based on goal orientation profiles were found: mastery oriented (n = 47, 26.5%), success-performance oriented (n = 49, 27.7%), indifferent (n = 43, 24.3%), and avoidance oriented (n = 38, 21.5%). The mastery-oriented group and the success-performance-oriented group reported higher levels in self-efficacy, legislative form in learning, and mastery goal structure when compared to the avoidance-oriented group or to the indifferent group. The avoidance-oriented group reported elevated levels of perceived strain and performance goal structure in comparison to the mastery-oriented group. Controlling the learners' preferences for different forms in learning revealed some slight differences in the observed pattern of between-group differences regarding perceptions of performance goal structure and self-efficacy. Controlling for the legislative form of learning diminished the difference between the mastery-oriented and the avoidance-oriented groups in perceptions of performance goal structure, and controlling for the executive form of learning revealed differences between success-performance oriented and the indifferent and the avoidance oriented. The role of the learning environment in highlighting certain types of activities in learners' choices and the relevance of this regarding their goal preferences are discussed

The Institutional Design of Arms Control: To What Extent Does Institutional Design Increase the Longevity of Arms Control Agreements?

The technical institutional design of arms control agreements remains a rather unexplored area of arms control. But the increasing uncertainty of future arms control efficacy requires a re-examination of the agreements’ institutional design to determine which components contribute positively to their longevity. This research examines the role of dispute settlement bodies as specific outside consultative bodies, verification regimes, membership as at least one nuclear-armed state party to the agreement, and technology transfer mechanisms in arms control agreements. It found that membership and a lack of technology transfer mechanisms are necessary to positively impact the longevity of an arms control agreement, meaning agreements are longest when at least one nuclear-armed nation is involved. Technology transfers were present in only a few agreements, but may have complicated agreements or made empty promises, impacting the duration of those agreements. Dispute settlement bodies and a lack of verification regimes are sufficient but not necessary conditions to positively impact longevity in this research. The relationship between a lack of verification regimes and longevity is the most interesting and suggests there may be an ideal level of verification

A strategy for weapons-grade plutonium disposition

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-76).by Kory William Budlong Sylvester.M.S

Weapons-grade plutonium disposition : an alternate immobilization strategy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-224).by Kory William Bundlong Sylvester.Ph.D

Beyond integrated safeguards: performance-based assessments for future nuclear controls.

In the future, iE the nuclear nonproliferation and arms control agendas are to advance, they will likely become increasingly seen as parallel undertakings with the objective of comprehensive cradle-to-grave controls over nuclear materials and possibly even warheads removed from defense programs along with materials in civilian use. This 'back to the future' prospect was envisioned in the Acheson-Lillienthal Report and the Baruch Plan, and more modestly in the Atoms-for-Peace Proposal. Unlike the grand plans of the early nuclear years, today's and tomorrow's undertakings will more likely consist of a series of incremental steps with the goal of expanding nuclear controls. These steps will be undertaken at a time of fundamental change in the IAEA safeguards system, and they will be influenced by those changes in profound ways. This prospective influence needs to be taken into account as the IAEA develops and implements integrated safeguards, including its efforts to establish new safeguards criteria, undertake technological and administrative improvements in safeguards, implement credible capabilities for the detection of undeclared nuclear facilities and activities and, perhaps, provide for a more intensive involvement in applying safeguards in new roles such as the verification of a fissile materials cutoff treaty. Performance-based criteria offer one promising way to address the effectiveness of integrated safeguards and to provide a common means of assessing the other key areas of a comprehensive approach to nuclear controls as these develop independently and to the extent that they are coordinated in the future

Estimating discharged plutonium using measurements of structural material activation products

As the US and Russia move to lower numbers of deployed nuclear weapons, transparency regarding the quantity of weapons usable fissile material available in each country may become more important. In some cases detailed historical information regarding material production at individual facilities may be incomplete or not readily available, e.g., at decommissioned facilities. In such cases tools may be needed to produce estimates of aggregate material production as part of a bilateral agreement. Such measurement techniques could also provide increased confidence in declared production quantities