Primary areas of policy research include: nuclear arms control and
nonproliferation,
nuclear power and energy issues, improving automobile
fuel economy, and checks and balances in policymaking for technology. He played a major role in developing cooperative programs to increase the security of Russian nuclear-weapons-usable materials. Von Hippel and his colleagues have worked on fissile material policy issues for the past 30 years, including contributions to: "ending the U.S. program to foster the commercialization of plutonium breeder reactors, convincing President Gorbachev to embrace the idea of a Fissile Material Production Cutoff Treaty, launching the U.S.-Russian cooperative nuclear materials protection, control and accounting program, and broadening efforts to eliminate the use of high-enriched uranium in civilian reactors worldwide". ==Awards and honors==