Arjun Makhijani
Encyclopedia
Arjun Makhijani is an electrical and nuclear engineer who is President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
. Makhijani has written many books and reports analyzing the safety, economics, and efficiency of various energy sources. He has testified before Congress and has served as an expert witness
in Nuclear Regulatory Commission
proceedings.
. IEER has been doing nuclear-related studies for twenty years and is an independent non-profit organization located in Takoma Park, Maryland
. Makhijani has a Ph.D. (Engineering), from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences of the University of California, Berkeley
, where he specialized in the application of plasma physics to controlled nuclear fusion
.
Makhijani has extensive professional experience and is qualified in radioactive waste
disposal, standards for protection of human health from radiation, and the relative costs and benefits of nuclear energy and other energy sources. He has testified before Congress and has served as a consultant on energy issues to utilities and other organizations, including the Tennessee Valley Authority
, the Lower Colorado River Authority
, the Edison Electric Institute
, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and several agencies of the United Nations
. He has also served as an expert witness in Nuclear Regulatory Commission
proceedings on nuclear facilities and in numerous lawsuits and has testified on a variety of issues including releases of radioactivity from nuclear facilities. He has testified before Congress on several occasions regarding issues related to nuclear waste, reprocessing, environmental releases of radioactivity, and regulation of nuclear weapons plants.
Makhijani has studied the French reprocessing and nuclear energy system and was the director of a team that analyzed ANDRA’s plans for a geological repository for high level radioactive waste in France on behalf of a French government-sponsored stakeholder committee (2004).
and renewable energy
sources such as wind power
and solar energy. He was the principal author of the first evaluation of energy end-uses and energy efficiency
potential in the U.S. economy (published by the Electronics Research Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley in 1971). He was also the principal author of the first overview study on Energy and Agriculture in the Third World (Ballinger 1975). He was one of the principal technical staff of the Ford Foundation
Energy Policy Project, and a co-author of its final report, A Time to Choose, which helped shape U.S. energy policy during the mid-to-late 1970s. He is a co-author of Investment Planning in the Electricity Sector, published by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in 1976. He is also the principal author of Nuclear Power Deception (Apex Books 1999), an analysis of the costs of nuclear power in the United States and a co-author and principal editor of the first global assessment of the health and environmental effects of nuclear weapons production (Nuclear Wastelands, 1995 and 2000), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize
by MIT Press. Most recently, Makhijani has authored Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free (RDR Books and IEER Press 2007), the first analysis of a transition to a U.S. economy based completely on renewable energy, without any use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. He has many published articles in journals such as The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and The Progressive
, as well as in newspapers, including the Washington Post. Arjun Makhijani has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, CBS 60 Minutes, NPR, CNN, and BBC, among others.
, Northwestern University, with Robert Alvarez; was awarded the Josephine Butler Nuclear Free Future Award in 2001; the 2007/2008 Jane Bagley Lehman Award for Excellence in Public Advocacy by the Tides Foundation; and was named a Ploughshares Hero, by the Ploughshares Fund
(2006). In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society
.
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research focuses on the environmental safety of nuclear weapons production, ozone layer depletion, and other issues relating to energy. IEER publishes a variety of books on energy-related issues, conducts workshops for activists on nuclear issues, and...
. Makhijani has written many books and reports analyzing the safety, economics, and efficiency of various energy sources. He has testified before Congress and has served as an expert witness
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
in Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
proceedings.
Professional experience
Arjun Makhijani is an electrical and nuclear engineer with 37 years experience in energy and nuclear issues. He is President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental ResearchInstitute for Energy and Environmental Research
The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research focuses on the environmental safety of nuclear weapons production, ozone layer depletion, and other issues relating to energy. IEER publishes a variety of books on energy-related issues, conducts workshops for activists on nuclear issues, and...
. IEER has been doing nuclear-related studies for twenty years and is an independent non-profit organization located in Takoma Park, Maryland
Takoma Park, Maryland
Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City," is a Tree City USA and a nuclear-free zone...
. Makhijani has a Ph.D. (Engineering), from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he specialized in the application of plasma physics to controlled nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
.
Makhijani has extensive professional experience and is qualified in radioactive waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
disposal, standards for protection of human health from radiation, and the relative costs and benefits of nuclear energy and other energy sources. He has testified before Congress and has served as a consultant on energy issues to utilities and other organizations, including the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
, the Lower Colorado River Authority
Lower Colorado River Authority
The Lower Colorado River Authority or LCRA is a nonprofit public utility that was created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. LCRA's mission is to protect people, property and the environment by providing public services for more than one million people in Central and Southeast Texas...
, the Edison Electric Institute
Edison Electric Institute
The Edison Electric Institute is the association of United States shareholder-owned electric power companies. Its members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry...
, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and several agencies of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. He has also served as an expert witness in Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
proceedings on nuclear facilities and in numerous lawsuits and has testified on a variety of issues including releases of radioactivity from nuclear facilities. He has testified before Congress on several occasions regarding issues related to nuclear waste, reprocessing, environmental releases of radioactivity, and regulation of nuclear weapons plants.
Makhijani has studied the French reprocessing and nuclear energy system and was the director of a team that analyzed ANDRA’s plans for a geological repository for high level radioactive waste in France on behalf of a French government-sponsored stakeholder committee (2004).
Publications
Arjun Makhijani has written a number of books and other publications analyzing the safety, economics, and efficiency of various energy sources, including nuclear powerNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
and renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
sources such as wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
and solar energy. He was the principal author of the first evaluation of energy end-uses and energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
potential in the U.S. economy (published by the Electronics Research Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley in 1971). He was also the principal author of the first overview study on Energy and Agriculture in the Third World (Ballinger 1975). He was one of the principal technical staff of the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
Energy Policy Project, and a co-author of its final report, A Time to Choose, which helped shape U.S. energy policy during the mid-to-late 1970s. He is a co-author of Investment Planning in the Electricity Sector, published by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in 1976. He is also the principal author of Nuclear Power Deception (Apex Books 1999), an analysis of the costs of nuclear power in the United States and a co-author and principal editor of the first global assessment of the health and environmental effects of nuclear weapons production (Nuclear Wastelands, 1995 and 2000), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
by MIT Press. Most recently, Makhijani has authored Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free (RDR Books and IEER Press 2007), the first analysis of a transition to a U.S. economy based completely on renewable energy, without any use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. He has many published articles in journals such as The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and The Progressive
The Progressive
The Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
, as well as in newspapers, including the Washington Post. Arjun Makhijani has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, CBS 60 Minutes, NPR, CNN, and BBC, among others.
Awards
In 1989, Dr Makhijani received The John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism of the Medill School of JournalismMedill School of Journalism
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University which offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It has consistently been one of the top-ranked schools in Journalism in the United States...
, Northwestern University, with Robert Alvarez; was awarded the Josephine Butler Nuclear Free Future Award in 2001; the 2007/2008 Jane Bagley Lehman Award for Excellence in Public Advocacy by the Tides Foundation; and was named a Ploughshares Hero, by the Ploughshares Fund
Ploughshares Fund
The Ploughshares Fund is a public grantmaking foundation that supports initiatives to prevent the spread and use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and other weapons of war, and to prevent conflicts that could lead to the use of weapons of mass destruction. Ploughshares is a 501...
(2006). In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
.