Arms Control & Non Proliferation
Documents & Texts from America.gov
20 July 2006
New U.S.-Russian Initiative Aims To Thwart Nuclear Terrorism
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer
[See also fact sheet on: Joint U.S.-Russia Global Initiative To Combat Nuclear Terrorism]
Washington – Every nation faces unique challenges in trying to thwart nuclear terrorism, which is today’s most urgent security challenge, says a senior State Department nonproliferation expert.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State Francis Record told a House International Relations subcommittee July 20 that the U.S.-Russian Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism announced by U.S. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin July 15 in St. Petersburg, Russia, is designed to bring global partners together “to confront and defeat this threat.” (See related article.)
He said the initiative’s main objective “is to establish a growing network of partner nations that are committed to taking effective measures to build a layered defense-in-depth that can continuously adapt to the changing nature of the threat.”
Collaborative efforts to develop better security technologies can help advance nonproliferation goals and the overall U.S. strategy to combat nuclear terrorism, Record said. Biometric access controls for sensitive materials, remote monitoring of facilities and personnel, and systems and software connected to rapid-response law enforcement units also can help, he said.
One challenge facing the new initiative is to bring together detection efforts with instantaneous communications technologies and wireless networks on land, sea and air, said the acting assistant secretary with the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.
It also is important to ensure interoperability between U.S. detection systems and those of its partners “to provide accurate early warning and improve the mutual situational awareness regarding potential threats that may require emergency responses,” Record said.
COOPERATIVE THREAT REDUCTION AND PSI
The initiative builds on the 1992 Cooperative Threat Reduction program and the ongoing Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) first proposed by President Bush in 2003.
Record said $52 million would be spent in fiscal year 2006 to retrain scientists in Libya, Eurasia and Iraq who once worked on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. He said the State Department also is funding programs to convert Russian bioweapons factories to animal-feed plants.
Meanwhile endorsement of the PSI Statement of Principles merely commits a nation politically “to stop proliferation-related shipments whenever possible,” Record said. Seventy-five nations currently support the informal, voluntary PSI “and we’re working hard to increase that number,” he added.
Record also emphasized the importance of rethinking the role of the private sector in pursuing nonproliferation strategies and reducing the risk of terrorists acquiring unconventional weapons. “We must make clear to the private sector the common interest we share in keeping their assets and infrastructure free from either direct attack or from exploitation by terrorist actors seeking to acquire or use nuclear or radiological materials,” he added.
The acting assistant secretary said initiatives such as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership can help reduce nuclear terrorism risks “while opening up new avenues for peaceful use of nuclear energy.” (See related article.)
For more information about U.S. policy, see Arms Control and Nonproliferation and Response to Terrorism.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) | 
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