Comprised of research files, correspondence, working papers, publications, financial records, audiovisual materials, and computer disks, the Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) Records, 1970-2004, document NCI’s efforts over a quarter century to prevent the spread of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. The records are arranged into two subgroups: Nuclear Control Institute Records and the papers of NCI’s founder and president, Paul Leventhal.

The Nuclear Control Institute Records are composed of six series: Administration files, Research files, Financial records, Videotapes, Audiocassettes, and Computer files. The Administration files document the management and operation of the NCI and include Board of Directors meetings minutes, records of fundraising endeavors, and records of conferences attended. The Research files are comprised of Country files, Name files, Three Mile Island files, Export Reorganization Act files, Terrorism/ Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation (OSRE) files, and the International Energy Associates Limited (IEAL)/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) studies. The Country files document Paul Leventhal’s worldwide efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation in different countries around the world, namely Japan, India, Pakistan, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, and China. Arranged alphabetically by correspondent, the Name files include NCI contacts and associates who either worked with Leventhal on various nuclear control projects or submitted research or written works that contributed to NCI’s agenda. The Terrorism files showcase NCI’s efforts to ensure power plant safety and prevent nuclear terrorism, by means of investigating the overall security of nuclear power plants from terrorist attacks and analyzing the safety measures involved in transporting nuclear waste by sea or air. The Financial records illuminate NCI’s day to day fiscal operations as well as fundraising efforts and grant applications applied for and received from numerous philanthropic organizations, ranging from the Carnegie Foundation to the Columbia Foundation. The Videotapes, Audiocassettes, and Computer files consist of cassette tapes, video recordings, and digital versions of Paul Leventhal’s interviews and papers, and transcripts of conferences from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

The Paul Leventhal Papers highlight his senior positions in the U.S. Senate working on nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism issues and are composed of Memoir Files, Personal Papers, Retained Senate Papers, Legal Pads, and NCI Publications. The Memoir files contain newspaper articles, reports, and correspondence that chart Leventhal’s accomplishments at NCI, including his authorship of five books: Nuclear Terrorism: Defining the Threat (1986), Preventing Nuclear Terrorism (1987), The Tritium Factor (1989), Averting a Latin American Arms Race (1992), and Nuclear Power and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons (2002); the success of a South American conference in 1989 that averted an arms race between Brazil and Argentina; and the countless articles and opinion pieces Leventhal wrote for major newspapers in the United States. The Retained Senate Papers primarily document Leventhal’s activities during the development and passage of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, the Three Mile Island investigations, and other political issues that dealt with nuclear regulation. The Personal Papers, Legal Pads, and NCI Publications contain notes, daily planners, publications, and other material, which reveal Leventhal’s day-to-day activities within the NCI and his preparation and writing of articles on behalf of NCI.