Regional integration and nuclear energy in Africa

African states are hampered by unreliable electric energy that has not complemented economic development efforts. Recently, several African states announced plans to pursue nuclear energy in the future. However, several challenges remain for these states, notably insecurity and financial deficiencies. This paper proposes the use of regional integration arrangements to address these challenges faced by African states, as a way of complementing other efforts enabling African states to obtain nuclear energy. The existence of these arrangements and their institutional mechanisms can enable African states to enhance security and cost-effectively develop nuclear power infrastructure.     

ATOMS FOR PEACE

Atomic Assistance: How “Atoms for Peace” Programs Cause Nuclear Insecurity, by Matthew Fuhrmann, Cornell University Press, 2012, 344 pages, $29.95.     

NUCLEAR POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST:

With the exception of Iran, no Middle Eastern state has an operating nuclear power reactor. Several states, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt are considering constructing such reactors; some have even taken steps towards commencing nuclear power projects. There exist, however, considerable economic, technical, safety, and security challenges to achieving these goals, many of which are acute in the Middle East region. Regional and international cooperation on nuclear technology could not only help regional states meet their energy objectives, but it could also help to build trust among states as a basic step towards a future Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone.     

The “yellow rain” controversy: Lessons for arms control compliance

Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam recently announced that they are launching nuclear energy programs, and Malaysia and the Philippines soon may follow suit. As a result, by 2020, at least three states in Southeast Asia could possess latent nuclear capabilities—the option to pursue military applications of dual-use nuclear technology. Analysis of the nuclear programs, domestic proliferation pressures, and the external threat environment in Southeast Asia leads the authors to conclude that the nuclear intentions of states in that region are entirely peaceful and the probability of future nuclear breakout there is low. However, this finding does not justify complacency. In the long term, the benign outlook for regional security may change, and in the near term weak regulatory regimes present serious challenges to nuclear safety and create opportunities that non-state actors may exploit. To minimize these risks, the authors recommend creating a “proliferation firewall” around the region, which would combine strong global support for Southeast Asian nuclear energy programs with innovative regional multilateral nuclear arrangements.     

火炮抽筒故障机理研究

针对某自行反坦克炮射击后,抽筒时出现药筒钢底座底缘与圆柱部断裂现象这一抽筒故障,分析计算该火炮正常抽筒所需的理论抽筒力和半自动开闩机构所能提供的实际抽筒力,由此定量分析该故障的主要原因,并提出火炮实弹射击预防抽筒故障的具体措施,对半自动开闩结构设计与改进、部队装备训练与射击具有一定指导和参考价值．     

超低能耗建筑的实践探索——以后勤工程学院绿色建筑示范楼为例

后勤工程学院绿色建筑示范楼是“超低能耗”理论的实践成果。通过理论研究和对当地气候以及建筑能耗的现状分析,综合采用自然通风采光技术、墙体自保温技术、建筑自遮阳设计等被动式节能技术,地源热泵应用、太阳能利用、楼宇智能控制等主动式节能技术,对示范楼进行了设计、建造。经过两年多的使用,各项节能数据的测定表明：示范楼节约能耗75．4％,实现了公共建筑超低能耗的节能要求。     

海水淡化系统余压能回收过程的仿真模拟

针对阀控式海水淡化能量回收装置增泄压过程中压力波动和浓盐水海水掺混导致反渗透膜组件工作负担变大的问题,对增压容器和增压过程建立模型,使用流体力学软件Fluent仿真增压过程,得到了增压过程液压缸内部流域的压力和速度分布。探究了混合段液柱活塞的形成过程和长度变化,通过对比液压缸结构和进水口流速变化对混合程度的影响,给出了用混合段做液柱活塞的参数特性和适用性,为海水淡化系统余压能回收设计提供依据。     

一种新的双输入多通道直流变换器

在传统的含储能单元分布式供电系统中,一般都需要多个单向直流变换器和双向直流变换器才能实现其功能。提出一种新的双输入多通道直流变换器,它的功能等效于一个单向直流变换器和一个双向直流变换器。分析了双输入多通道直流变换器的工作原理,给出了变换器的稳态关系式以及能量管理方法,并运用Saber软件进行仿真,验证了理论分析的正确性。该直流变换器除具有双输入Buck直流变换器的优点外,还能实现可再生能源向储电输入源充电。     

Transforming Mexico’s energy field: the intended consequences of a drug war

ABSTRACT

By utilizing the theory of Strategic Action Fields (SAFs), the present article explains how a new meso-level social order seems to have emerged in Mexico as a result of the paramilitarization of organized crime, militarization of security, and the opening of Mexico’s energy sector to private investment. This work describes the transformation of Mexico’s energy field after a process of major constitutional and economic changes that were the consequence of a security crisis and an agenda of energy reform for which the so-called ‘drug war’ was a key underlying foundation.     

Operation Motorman (1972) and the search for a coherent British counterinsurgency strategy in Northern Ireland

The role of the British Army in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner (1969–2007) is an instructive case study of counterinsurgency operations as well as an important chapter in recent British military history. Given troops deployed to the province as aid to the civil power, it is particularly useful in discussions about the principle of minimum force. This article seeks to explore the issue of minimum force through the example of Operation Motorman, the Army's successful attempt to remove the barricades, which had established so-go areas for the security forces in Northern Ireland.