Five years ago, during the 8th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power Systems, in Albuquerque, NM, Academician Nikolai Nikolaevich Ponomarev‐Stepnoi, First Deputy Director of the Russian Research Center, Kurchatov Institute, proposed the sale of the Soviety Union’s TOPAZ II technology to the United States. This proposal, made at great personal risk, was initially viewed with much skepticism by most Americans attending that conference since the Cold War was still in full swing. There were, however, a few visionaries, some would say fanatics, that set about to make this sale possible. Even these visionaries did not anticipate the collapse of the Soviet Union or the subsequent efforts by the U.S. and other Western powers to help the Newly Independent States transition to a market economy.
Little did these visionaries know that the formation of the ‘‘TOPAZ II Program,’’ using former military space power technology of the Soviet Union, would become the preeminent example of technology cooperation between two former adversaries. A unique teaming arrangement formed in New Mexico, called the New Mexico Strategic Alliance and consisting of the Air Force Phillips Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the University of New Mexico, and Los Alamos Nationalo Laboratory, was a key ingredient in making this program a success. A brief summary of some of the highlights of this technology partnership is given to explain how international patnerships of this type can enable commercialization and technology transfer.
