Five nuclear experts last night debated the prospects and management of proliferation at a Center for International Affairs-sponsored forum.

The panelists, from institutions including the Nuclear Control Institute and MIT, discussed the nuclear race from a technological, national security and third-world perspective.

The forum, which took place at the Kennedy School, was moderated by Albert Carnesale, public policy professor at the K-school and coauthor of the widely acclaimed text "Hawks, Doves and Owls."

Two panelists agreed that the nuclear proliferation is primarily a security problem. "We must stop kidding ourselves about our security. We develop more bomb programs when we are insecure," said Roger Molander, the president of the Washington-based Roosevelt Center for American Political Studies.

Another, calling himself a pessimist, made the distinction between long-run and short-run hopes. "The short run can limit the likelihood of time the countries that want to get into the weapons business have, but I can't be very optimistic about where we're going in the long run," said George Rathjens, political science professor at MIT.

Lewis Dunn. assistant director of the Bureau of Nuclear and Weapons Control, said that the world is sorely in need of innovative ideas to control the spread of nuclear weapons, but that proliferation is not the United States's most important issue at this time.