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Douglas Birch

The Center for Public Integrity
dbirch@publicintegrity.org
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Veteran foreign correspondent Douglas Birch has reported from more than 20 countries, covered four wars, a dozen elections, the death of a pope and the hunt for a malaria vaccine. He formerly served as the Moscow bureau chief for the Associated Press and spent 22 years at the Baltimore Sun. Birch was the AP’s diplomatic and military editor in Washington, following his work in Moscow from 2001 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2010. At the Baltimore Sun, he was an enterprise, feature and science writer. Birch was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002 for his series on the abuse of human subjects in drug trials. A graduate of Columbia University and its graduate journalism school, he was also a Knight science journalism fellow at MIT. Birch lives in Baltimore with his wife, Jane, who works for a Baltimore charitable foundation. His daughter Alison is an architect living in Charleston, S.C.  

A congressional advisory panel says the nuclear weapons complex can be scaled down and modernized with less regulation.

The overseer of U.S. nuclear weapons production requests an Inspector General’s review of the firing of Los Alamos analyst James Doyle.

A growing number of U.S. experts say that feigning ignorance about Israel’s nuclear arsenal creates more trouble than it averts.

Former Los Alamos lab employee argues that DOE abused its powers, retaliated against him for expressing views.

Islamic State fighters seize U.S. military equipment in Iraq, become targets for U.S. warplanes.

The White House rejected a confidential proposal to accelerate work on nuclear security problems despite a missed 2013 deadline.

Los Alamos lets a 17-year employee go after retroactively classifying his published article.

A newly-released DOE study concludes the department can save billions by shelving a costly South Carolina nuclear fuel factory.

Pentagon report reveals that those implicated typically kept their security clearances.

The Abe government’s new energy plan calls for completing the Rokkasho plutonium fuel factory despite U.S. concern it poses terrorism risks

The amount of plutonium is a small fraction of what the country could soon begin making annually.

A two-day international summit attended by President Obama next week is unlikely to move beyond stopgap measures and vague promises.

Cronyism, influence-buying and a stifling of dissenting voices have kept the Japanese nuclear industry going strong after Fukushima.

After years of resistance, Japan agrees to return a portion of plutonium to the U.S.

Japan has balked at U.S. security advice for its nuclear plants.

Japan is leading a global move towards dangerous reactors fueled by a nuclear explosive, Thomas Cochran and other experts say.

The costliest U.S. nonproliferation program has been undone by huge cost overruns.

The GAO complains anew about DOE's unwillingness to investigate cost increases at the MOX plant, and learn from its mistakes there

The MOX plant may cost another $30 billion to complete and operate, and federal officials are newly wary.

The ICBM force is not getting the Air Force’s high flyers.

Ranking given to the United States for its security of nuclear materials slips over the past two years.

A persistent campaign by weapons designers to develop a nuclear defense against extraterrestrial rocks slowly wins government support.

A detailed new report offers some insight into why the most costly weapon system in U.S. history has so many problems and defects.

Audit says U.S. lacks blueprint to assure Afghan assistance is well-spent

But Obama admits that Snowden turned up heat on surveillance efforts.

Some Senate lawmakers are pushing back against the Navy's effort to accelerate production of the troubled Littoral Combat Ships.

Compliance with a demand for government-wide anti-retaliatory measures is “on track,” officials say.

PART FOUR IN A SERIES: After DOE spends $3.7 billion on a troubled fuel plant, an alternative plan suddenly gains new advocates.

PART THREE IN A SERIES: Lawmakers shed their fiscal conservatism to keep a troubled nuclear plant alive at Washington’s expense.

PART TWO OF A SERIES: A yawning gap opens between Washington’s claims about a nuclear plant and its messy construction.

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