Nuclear Risks and Arms Control - Problems and Progresses in the Time of Pandemics and War : Proceedings of the XXII Edoardo Amaldi Conference, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy, April 6-8, 2022

This open access book is based on the conference organised by Accademia dei Lincei and the US National Academy of Sciences and supported by the Italian Ministero degli Affari Esteri. It was attended by about 60 scientists and researchers from 13 countries, including, besides Europe, Iran, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Japan, Russian Federation and the USA. In an international scenario shaken by the uncertainties of the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine, dialogue and scientific collaboration are confirmed to be precious tools to enhance nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation. The urgency to open peace discussions in Ukraine was emphasised by all participants, and the belief that science can make an essential contribution to peace construction was reaffirmed.

Current challenges (some new, such as autonomous weapons and the use of artificial intelligence for war purposes) are discussed and attempts made to identify possible solutions and future improvements, including in the field of sustainable energy development.

Paolo Cotta-Ramusino is Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Milan; Senior Researcher at the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics; Associate with the Project on Managing the Atom, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Adjunct Professor in the Centre of International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and the World Academy of Art and Sciences in Boston; and Secretary General of the international NGO, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Nobel Peace Prize 1995, since 2002.

Micah Lowenthal was Lecturer and Researcher in Nuclear Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. He is Director of Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) at the US National Academy of Sciences and Senior Director for international networks and cooperation in the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Lowenthal is Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society (APS) and past Chair of the APS Forum on Physics and Society. He was Member of the Board of the XXII Edoardo Amaldi Conference. 

Luciano Maiani is Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Sapienza University of Roma and former Director General of CERN. Prof. Maiani predicted the existence and properties of charged particles (GIM mechanism) crucial to the formulation of a gauge theory of electroweak interactions. Currently, his work is focused on the formation of quark–gluon plasma in heavy ion collisions. Prof. Maiani chaired the XXII Edoardo Amaldi Conference. 

Enza Pellecchia is Full Professor of Private Law in the Departmentof Law at the Pisa University. From 2005 to 2010, she has been Director of the Center for Human Rights, while from 2010 to 2016, she was Deputy Director of the CISP―Interdisciplinary Center for Peace Sciences of the University of Pisa. Since 2016, she is Director of CISP.