Moritz Kütt is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Peace and Security Research (IFSH) in Hamburg, Germany, and a Visiting Research Collaborator with SGS. He received his PhD in physics (2016) from the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. He holds undergraduate degrees in Physics and Political Science from the same university. Moritz is a member of the Board of International Students/Young Pugwash.
Research Interests
His general research interest is to understand the role of technology in the context of non-proliferation and disarmament, and to support progress in this field through new technical developments. Current projects include the development of a robot-based detector for safeguards applications, a virtual reality environment to support treaty negotiations and the design of trusted verification devices using old electronics (“vintage verification”). He also studies verification options for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and works on possibilities to convert reactors from high enriched uranium to low enriched uranium, both for space and naval applications.
Publications
M. Kütt, T. Patton, A. Glaser, and M. Göttsche, Nuclear Inspections in the Matrix: Virtual Reality for the Development of Inspection Approaches in New Facility Types, Symposium on International Safeguards: Building Future Safeguards Capabilities, International Atomic Energy Agency, November 5-8, 2018, Vienna, Austria.
M. Kütt, Building Safeguards Technologies using Open Source Software and Hardware: Learning From the Maker Movement, Symposium on International Safeguards: Building Future Safeguards Capabilities, International Atomic Energy Agency, November 5-8, 2018, Vienna, Austria.
R. Goldston, A. Glaser, M. Kütt, P. Landgren, and N. E. Leonard, Autonomous Mobile Directionally and Spectrally Sensitive Neutron Detectors, Symposium on International Safeguards: Building Future Safeguards Capabilities, International Atomic Energy Agency, November 5-8, 2018, Vienna, Austria.
P. Podvig, Z. Mian, M. Kütt, and A. Glaser, Global Fissile Material Stocks 2018, 59th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Baltimore, MD, July 2018.
A. Glaser, B. Barak, M. Kütt, and S. Philippe, Physical Public Templates for Nuclear Warhead Verification, 59th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Baltimore, MD, July 2018.
M. Kütt and A. Glaser, Vintage Verification: Building an Information Barrier with the Apple IIe and the MOS 6502, 59th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Baltimore, MD, July 2018.
M. Kütt, J. de Trouilloud de Lanversin, and M. Göttsche, Understanding Uncertainties in Nuclear Archaeology, 59th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Baltimore, MD, July 2018.
M. Kütt, Z. Mian, and P. Podvig, Global Stocks and Production of Fissile Materials, in Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Yearbook 2018: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, 2018.
M. Kütt, M. Göttsche, and A. Glaser, Information Barrier Experimental: Toward a Trusted and Open-source Computing Platform for Nuclear Warhead Verification, Measurement, 114, 2018.
M. Kütt and M. Göttsche, Neutron Multiplicity Simulations: Geant4 versus MCNPX-PoliMi, 57th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Atlanta, GA, 2016.
M. Kütt, M. Göttsche, and A. Glaser, Disarmament Hacking 2.0: Toward a Trusted, Open-Hardware Computing Platform for Nuclear Warhead Verification, 57th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Atlanta, GA, 2016.
T. Patton, M. Kütt, and A. Glaser, Full-Motion Virtual Reality for Nuclear Arms Control, 57th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Atlanta, GA, 2016.
S. Philippe, M. Kütt, M. McKeown, A. Glaser, and U. Rührmair, The Application of Virtual Proofs of Reality to Nuclear Safeguards and Arms Control Verification, 57th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Atlanta, GA, 2016.
F. Frieß and M. Kütt, BN-800: Spent Fuel Dose Rates and the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, Science & Global Security, 24 (3), 2016.
M. Kütt and J. Steffek, Comprehensive Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: An Emerging International Norm?, Nonproliferation Review, 22 (3-4), 2016.
F. Frieß, M. Kütt, and M. Englert, Proliferation Issues Related to Fast SMRs, Annals of Nuclear Energy, 85, November 2015.
M. Kütt, Arms-control Lessons from the Volkswagen Scandal, Voices of Tomorrow, Bulletin for Atomic Scientists, November 2015.
M. Kütt, Nuclear Disarmament Hacks: New Partners for Further Progress Towards Global Zero, 9th International Student/Young Pugwash Conference on Prospects for Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation: 70 Years After the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings, Nagasaki, Japan, October 2015.
M. Göttsche, M. Kütt, G. Neuneck, and I. Niemeyer, Advancing Disarmament Verification Tools: A Task for Europe?, Non-Proliferation Paper No. 47, EU Non-Proliferation Consortium, 2015.
M. Englert, M. Kütt, and A. Löpsinger, Oslo, Nayarit und Wien: Humanitäre Aspekte in der nuklearen Abrüstungsdebatte, Wissenschaft & Frieden, 2, 2015.
M. Kütt, A. Glaser, and S. Philippe. Leveraging the Wisdom of the Crowd: Hardware and Software Challenges for Nuclear Disarmament Verification, 56th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Indian Wells, CA, 2015.
M. Kütt. Geometry Independent (alpha, n) Rate Estimation for Neutron Multiplicity Measurement Simulations with Geant4, 56th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Indian Wells, CA, 2015.
M. Kütt, F. Frieß, and M. Englert, Plutonium Disposition in the BN-800 Fast Reactor: An Assessment of Plutonium Isotopics and Breeding, Science & Global Security, 22 (3), 2014.
M. Kütt and J. Steffek, What Did They Say? The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Diplomatic Statements, ISAC-ISSS Annual Conference on Security, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, November 14-16, 2014.
M. Kütt, Simulation of Neutron Multiplicity Measurements using Geant4, 55th Annual INMM Meeting, Atlanta, GA, July 21-24, 2014.
M. Kütt, A. Glaser, and M. Englert, Open Source meets Nuclear Arms Control, 55th Annual INMM Meeting, Atlanta, GA, July 21-24, 2014.
M. Kütt, S. Philippe, B. Barak, A. Glaser, and R. J. Goldston, Authenticating Nuclear Warheads With High Confidence, 55th Annual INMM Meeting, Atlanta, GA, July 21-24, 2014.
M. Kütt, Fast Reactors Fueled with WPu-MOX, IANUS Working Paper, 2/2013.
F. Polidoro, F. Parozzi, F. Fassnacht, M. Kütt, and M. Englert, Proliferation Resistance of Small Modular Reactor Fuels, GLOBAL 2013, Salt Lake City, 2013.
M. Kütt, Open Source Meets Nuclear Arms Control, 8th International Student/Young Pugwash Conference, Conflict and Cooperation: The Global Impact of National and Regional Security Issues, Istanbul, Turkey, October 2013.
F. Fujara and M. Kütt, Fukushima und die Verantwortung der Wissenschaft, in Wissenschaftler und Verantwortung, Proceedings of the Gesellschaft für Verantwortung in der Wissenschaft, 22, 2013.
M. Kütt and M. Englert, Increased Transparency in Simulations of Measurements for Nuclear Disarmament Verification, Proceedings of the European Safeguards Research and Development Association, Annual Conference, Bruges, 2013.
M. Kütt (and Students), Ringvorlesung Reaktorunglück Fukushima: Veranstaltungsbericht und ausgewählte Vorlesungsprotokolle, IANUS Working Paper, 1/2013.
M. Kütt, Proliferation Risks of Fast Reactors, FONAS Newsletter, 11, 2012.
M. Kütt, Eliminating Plutonium Stockpiles and the Role of 238Pu, 7th International Student/Young Pugwash Conference: Conflict and Cooperation – The Global Impact of Regional Security Efforts, Berlin, Germany, June 2011.
M. Kütt and J. Langmore, Australia, the UN, and Nuclear Weapons, On Line Opinion – Australia's e-journal of Social and Political Debate, January 14, 2008.
Teaching
Moritz supports WWS/MAE 353 ("Science and Global Security: From Nuclear Weapons to Cyberwarfare") giving guest lectures and organizing a virtual reality exercise. He was also involved in design and teaching of a two-week laboratory exercise "The Buddy Tag and a Verified Denuclearization of North Korea" as part of MAE 519 ("Advanced Topics in Experimental Methods").
Talks
Virtual Reality for Nuclear Disarmament Verification, Nuclear Verification and Disarmament Group, RWTH Aachen, Germany, November 14, 2018.
How can Germany become a Member of the Ban Treaty, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton, NJ, March 14, 2018.
Vintage Computing for Trusted Radiation Measurements and a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (with A. Glaser), 34th Chaos Communication Congress (34c3), Leipzig, Germany, December 29, 2017, www.vintageverification.org.
Information Barriers: Trusted Devices for Disarmament Verification?, Summer Symposium on Science and World Affairs, Darmstadt, July 2017.
Freie Software zur Vertrauensbildung in der nuklearen Rüstungskontrolle: Neutronensimulationen als Beispiel, Kolloquium des Institut für Festkörperphysik, TU Darmstadt, December 2015.
Open Source Hardware and Software for Trusted Inspection Systems, PVTS-SGS Workshop on Verification Technologies, Beijing, China, June 2015.
Peace (&) Research, Franz Fujara Kolloquium, AK-Meeting des NMR Arbeitskreises, Erbach/Odenwald, March 2015.
Google Glass, Open Source Software and Verification Applications, New Technologies for Information Analysis to Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Verification, Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Vienna, Austria, December 2014.
Nuclear Arms Control Needs Open Source Software, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey, CA, November 2014.
Nuclear Disarmament: Hacks for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons?, MetaRheinMainChaosDays 2014 (MRMCD 2014), Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany, September 2014.
Einführung einer Zivilklausel: Erfahrungen, Workshop Zivilklausel Jetzt, GEW Marburg, February 2014.
Transparente Simulation für nukleare Verifikationsaufgaben, Forschungsverband Naturwissenschaft, Abrüstung und innere Sicherheit (FONAS), Annual Meeting, Hamburg, September 2013.
Increased Transparency in Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation: Open Source Simulation Tools for Various Verification Tasks, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton, July 2013.
Zivilklausel: Aktuelle Debatte in Deutschland, Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society, Dresden, March 2013.
Plutonium Production: Back of the Envelope Calculations, Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society, Dresden, March 2013.
Prospective Uranium Supply and Nuclear Fuel Demand, Summer Symposium on Science and World Affairs, Princeton, USA, July 2012.
Interactions Between Science and Society: Teaching Responsibility, International Students/Young Pugwash Workshop, Paris, March 2012.
Burnup calculations for fast reactors, Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society, Dresden, March 2011.
Physical (In-)Capabilities of Breeder Reactors, Summer Symposium on Science and World Affairs, Hamburg, July 2010.
Proliferation Risk of Plutonium Fuels: Burnup Calculations with particular regard to Pu238 Fractions, Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society, Hamburg, March 2009.
Reflections on the 2008 Model Negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention, UN Roundtable, Steps Toward a Nuclear Weapons Convention: Exploring and Developing Legal and Political Aspects, November 2008.
S(t)imulating a Nuclear Weapons Convention, Workshop Teaching Ethics and Peace to Science and Engineering Students, University of Hamburg/ZNF, Presentation/Poster, October 2008.
Vergleichsrechnungen zum Aufbau von Pu238 in inerten und anderen Brennstoffen, Forschungsverband Naturwissenschaft, Abrüstung und innere Sicherheit (FONAS), Annual Meeting, Osnabrück, September 2008.
Proliferation Risk of Plutonium Fuels: Burnup Calculations with particular regard to Pu238 Fractions, Summer Symposium on Science and World Affairs, Boston, August 2008.