Posted on 31-5-2004
U.S.
Revives Efforts to Retrieve Nuclear Materials
Environment News Service (ENS), May 28, 2004
U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has announced a global
initiative
to intensify and accelerate efforts aimed at preventing high
risk nuclear
and radiological materials from falling into the hands of terrorists
or
rogue states.
Making the announcement at the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)
in Vienna, Austria, at a meeting with IAEA senior officials,
Abraham said
that the program is designed to address the threat posed by
the entire
range of nuclear materials.
The new program, called the Global Threat Reduction Initiative,
aims to
minimize as quickly as possible the amount of nuclear material
available
that could be used for nuclear weapons. It will seek to put
into place
mechanisms to ensure that nuclear and radiological materials
and related
equipment, wherever they may be in the world, are not used for
malicious
purposes. "We will do this by the securing, removing, relocating
or
disposing of these materials and equipment - whatever the most
appropriate
circumstance may be - as quickly and expeditiously as possible,"
Abraham
said.
The United States and other countries are concerned that terrorists
may
steal or acquire high-enriched uranium or spent nuclear reactor
fuel from
a research or other facility to produce a nuclear bomb or, more
likely, a
dirty bomb - a device that disperses radioactive materials with
conventional explosives. "We are forced to assume that
rogue states and
terrorists, in concert with for-profit proliferators, will act
vigorously
to achieve their ends," he said.
At a press conference, IAEA chief Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei said
security
issues have become a global priority in the past several years,
with
nuclear weapons related know-how spreading extensively. He said
this makes
the control of nuclear material that could be used for nuclear
weapons
extremely critical, and welcomed the proposal on the part of
Secretary
Abraham and the United States. "The proposal is a continuation
and
extension of initiatives that the IAEA, the USA and others have
been
working on for many years, and with renewed intensity in the
past couple
of years, to address nuclear security around the world,"
Dr. ElBaradei
said.
The Global Threat Reduction Initiative includes accelerating
the ongoing
repatriation of Russian origin, high-enriched uranium fuel and
spent
nuclear fuel of both Russian and U.S. origin. "We will
first work in
partnership with Russia to repatriate all Russian-origin fresh
HEU fuel by
the end of next year," Abraham said. "We will also
work with Russia to
accelerate and complete the repatriation of all Russian-origin
spent fuel
by 2010. We will do this on a priority basis according to security
threat,
so that we remove or secure the most dangerous materials first."
The program will retrieve high-enriched uranium sent by Moscow
to 20
reactors in 17 countries and ship it back to Russia for storage
at the
Dmitrovgrad All-Russia Institute for Atomic Reactors east of
Moscow. “I am
pleased to see the Secretary join the chorus of voices that
have called
for more urgent action on this front," said Kenneth Luongo,
executive
director of the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council,
an
independent, nongovernmental research organization which advises
both the
Russian and U.S. governments on nuclear policy. “This
was the right
decision at a time when terrorist threats against the U.S. are
intensifying. We’ve delayed too long and we need to move
out rapidly on
this mission," Luongo said.
The cores of civilian research reactors that use high-enriched
uranium
will be converted to use low-enriched uranium that cannot be
used to make
nuclear weapons. Equipment not covered by existing threat reduction
efforts will be identified and secured.
Abraham said that despite progress made by the United States
and Russia in
improving the security of nuclear materials, more comprehensive
and urgent
efforts are needed to respond to emerging and evolving threats.
He said
that a significant amount of such materials in research reactors
and other
equipment around the world still poses a proliferation challenge.
Abraham
noted that more than 200 research reactors are close to the
end of their
lifespans, and an additional 400 have already been shut down
or
decommissioned. Abraham said that more money and international
cooperation
will be required to meet this challenge and complete the job.
The United States will establish a single organization within
the
Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration
to focus
exclusively on these efforts. It plans to dedicate more than
$450 million
to them. International and global cooperation will be an integral
part of
the Global Threat Reduction Initiative. Secretary Abrahams proposed
that
the IAEA and international community join in holding a Global
Threat
Reduction Initiative Partners' Conference.
This conference would examine how to address material collection
and
security in places where a broader international effort is required.
It
would also focus on material collection and security of other
proliferation materials, such as those located at conversion
facilities,
reprocessing plants, and industrial sites, as well as the funding
of such
work.
Nonproliferation experts have noted that important questions
about the new
initiative remain unanswered, the Russian-American Nuclear Security
Advisory Council warned. They want details on the types of incentives
that
will be necessary to convince countries to relinquish their
highly-enriched uranium (HEU) and convert reactors utilizing
this
material.
The Council questions whether the U.S. will assist with the
shutdown of
other older HEU-fueled reactors, wonders how the United States
intends to
recover almost two-thirds of the HEU it has supplied to foreign
reactors
that is not encompassed by the current U.S. spent fuel take-back
program.
In Vienna, Secretary Abraham expressed appreciation for the
efforts of the
staff of the United Nations nuclear agency, who are tasked with
monitoring
safety of all nuclear installations around the world and compliance
with
international treaties. "Believe me when I say that you
labor on the
frontlines of the 21st century's greatest conflict - a conflict
between
the civilized nations of the Earth, and the terrorists and terrorist
states that would use devastating technologies to destroy them."
Tens of millions of people in New York, Rome, Geneva, Tokyo,
Sydney,
London, and other spots all over the globe will sleep soundly
tonight
because people like you and others who work on these challenges
are
tireless in their efforts," Abraham said. "My government
takes your
mission very seriously. It is our mission as well. We thank
you, and we
pledge our determination and resources to help you go about
the business
of making the world a safer place."
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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