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Sneha Nair Linked in——Publications
Bias in Nuclear Security Implementation Solutions to Identify Threats and Strengthen Security Culture in the United States
Stimson Center November 8, 2023

Does U.S. nuclear security culture rely too much on secrecy and exclusion? In an exploratory study, the Stimson Center spoke with a range of nuclear security stakeholders in government, industry, and civil society to understand how structural bias in U.S. nuclear security policy may discount the insider threat from domestic violent extremists. To mitigate biased understandings of threat and associated negative effects on security culture, the research team proposes a novel framework to…Show more
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Christina McAllister Annie Trentham
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The Threat from Within: An Overview of the Domestic Violent Extremist Threat Facing US Nuclear Security Practitioners
Stimson Center November 2, 2023
Nuclear security in the U.S. has historically understood threat as ‘other’ – leaving practitioners, facilities, and physical protection systems vulnerable to threats from within: a glaring vulnerability that was made public in the wake of the 2021 Capitol Breach. Urgent change to the nuclear security norms and understanding of threat to include not only foreign agents, but also domestic violent extremist groups and homegrown violent ideologies, is needed to strengthen the resiliency and…Show more
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Christina McAllister Anna Pluff
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Gender Undone: Confronting Bias in Nuclear Security
International Journal of Nuclear Security October 14, 2023
In the face of evolving security needs, diversity is critical in nonproliferation, nuclear security, and other related fields. Despite multiple studies highlighting the need for gender balance and diversity in the nuclear nonproliferation and security space and targeted recruitment and capacity-building efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency and states, gains in the representation of women (as well as historically underrepresented groups) have been set back by the gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and slow cultural change at nuclear facilities and organizations. This issue is in large part due to the inability of initiatives aimed at diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) to deal with the structural biases of who belongsin nuclear security.
Accordingly, this paper will address potential solutions and good practices for reforming organizational nuclear security culture in the United States. Integrating policies to actively confront and undo structural biases and gendered assumptions about women in nuclear security is the start of building DEIA into the broader nuclear industry and its associated organizations. Although bias is an inevitable symptom of the human condition, employers in the nuclear field can work to check biases by integrating DEIA values and assumptions that deal with gender representation into the organizational culture. This paper finds that significantly more transparency and public data reporting is needed in the sector to understand the scope of the challenge and posits the creation of a DEIA nuclear security organizational culture more reflective of DEIA values to strengthen nuclear security and improve the diversity of the nuclear field in the long term.Show less
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Christina McAllister Anna Pluff Katherine Mack
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Queering nuclear weapons: How LGBTQ+ inclusion strengthens security and reshapes disarmament
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists June 15, 2023
Op-ed coauthored with Louis ReitmannSee publication
Building a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Nuclear Security Culture

Institute of Nuclear Materials Management May 22, 2023
Since the first days of the Manhattan Project, access to careers and knowledge relating to nuclear issues has been gatekept, preventing the participation of historically marginalized groups, including women, people of color, queer communities, and others. This historic exclusion of marginalized groups has been acute in security-related fields, including nuclear security. In recent years, research has shown the negative impacts of these policies and the need for supporting diversity, equity, and…Show more
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Nickolas Roth
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Don’t Blame the Robots:” Artificial Intelligence Bias & Implications for Nuclear Security
Institute of Nuclear Materials Management May 22, 2023
New threats require innovative approaches to mitigation efforts and emerging technologies are a crucial part of nuclear security infrastructure. But embracing new tools comes with new considerations and risks. Responsible nuclear security practitioners must ask: what happens when the tools for protection begin working against those they are meant to protect? Such is the concern with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for nuclear security.
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Anna Pluff
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Converging Goals: Examining the Intersection Between Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Nuclear Security Implementation
Nuclear Threat Initiative April 14, 2023
Discussion paper/presentation for Nuclear Threat Initiative’s 16th Global Dialogue on Nuclear Security Priorities, April 12-14, 2023See publication
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nuclear Security Culture: Insider Threat Assessments at Nuclear Facilities
Institute of Nuclear Materials Management July 26, 2022
In the face of evolving threats, nuclear security frameworks must adapt to new risk factors and challenges, both internal and external. In examining what factors are the most likely to indicate an insider threat from nuclear facility personnel, the systems and methods to identify indicators – both for new hires and existing personnel – are based off of problematic and antiquated conceptualizations of who or what constitutes a threat. For nuclear facilities to more effectively screen their…Show more
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Reimagining U.S. Foreign Policy as an Anti-racist Endeavor
New America March 3, 2022
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