Robert Goldston

Robert Goldston

Professor Robert Goldston is a leading researcher in plasma physics and fusion energy, and was director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), 1997 – 2009. He is author or coauthor on over 250 publications. He is co-author of the textbook “Introduction to Plasma Physics”, and received the APS Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics. Goldston has collaborated with Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security on a number of research topics. He contributed a section on Fusion Energy to a chapter on Nuclear Energy prepared by Frank von Hippel for the IIASA Global Energy Assessment. He has published on the tradeoff between climate change mitigation by nuclear energy and proliferation risks in Science and Global Security. Goldston and Alex Glaser published in Nuclear Fusion on the potential proliferation risks associated with magnetic fusion energy, and the role of safeguards in minimizing these risks. Goldston chaired an IAEA Consultative Group on this topic. Goldston and Glaser also published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on proliferation risks specifically associated with Inertial Fusion Energy; their perspectives are reflected in the NAS Panel Report on Inertial Fusion Energy. Most recently Goldston has collaborated with Glaser and Boaz Barak of Microsoft Research, New England, on a Zero-Knowledge Protocol for warhead verification, published in Nature. Goldston and Glaser are constructing facilities to test this technique experimentally at PPPL, under the CVT.