POPA Reports

The APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) commissions and oversees reports that present a technical assessment of an area of interest to the APS community and decision makers. Reports succinctly review and assess a policy issue and provide advice and/or actionable recommendations to Congress and/or federal government agencies. POPA reports are peer-reviewed by an external set of expert reviewers on the topic of the report. The review process is managed by an Editor approved by the POPA steering committee.

All POPA reports are approved by the APS Council. To learn more about the process for POPA reports, please contact ga@aps.org

Ballistic Missile Defense report cover

It was determined that Section 5 (Boost-Phase Intercept Systems) of the report contained technical errors. The authors are currently working to correct the errors. An updated report will be reviewed by an external expert prior to posting.


Prior to 2014, POPA oversaw a number of technical assessments and white papers on topics of relevance to the physics community. These documents reflect the views of the individual authors. The findings and recommendations do not necessarily represent the views of the APS Council or APS membership. They are available upon request. If interested, please contact ga@aps.org.

  • Renewing Licenses for the Nation’s Nuclear Power Plants (2013)
  • A Technical Review: The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Transformational and Applied Research Directorate R&D Program (2013)
  • Elements report (2011)
  • Integrating Renewable Electricity on the Grid (2010)
  • Nuclear Weapons in 21st Century U.S. National Security (2008)
  • Nuclear Forensics - Role, State of the Art, Program Needs (2008)
  • Readiness of the U.S. Nuclear Workforce for 21st Century Challenges (2008)
  • Consolidated Interim Storage of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel (2007)
  • Challenges of Electricity Storage Technologies (2007)
  • Nuclear Power and Proliferation Resistance (2004)
  • The Moon-Mars Program (2004)
  • The Modern PIT Facility (MPF) (2004)
  • The Hydrogen Initiative (2004)
  • Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Study (2003)
  • The Current Energy Situation & Background Papers (1996)
  • Background Paper in Support of the American Physical Society's Statement on Conservation of Helium (1996)