FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ryan Costello (rcostello@connectusfund.org or 703-963-1901)

Congressional Appropriators Add Funding for Nuclear Terrorism Prevention

Nuclear Security Experts Commend Bipartisan Efforts

Congress took a major step forward in efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism by restoring funding for anti-terror nonproliferation programs in the Senate and House Energy and Water bills last week according to the Fissile Materials Working Group, a nonpartisan group of nuclear security experts.

The fiscal year 2013 Senate Energy and Water appropriations bill boosts funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) by $73 million above the administration’s request, while the House bill provides $17 million in additional funding.  The GTRI program removes and secures nuclear material at vulnerable civilian sites around the globe.  The Senate bill also includes a $54 million boost to NNSA’s International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation (INMPC) program in order to sustain progress in countering nuclear trafficking.  Both programs are critical to efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism.

“Leaders on the Hill should be commended for their bipartisan efforts to restore funding to essential programs that prevent nuclear terrorism,” stated David Culp, Legislative Representative for Nuclear Disarmament at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.  “In particular, Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and Ranking Member Peter Visclosky (D-IN) deserve substantial praise for their work.”

The administration’s 2013 budget request had cut GTRI by $32 million and INMPC by $259 million relative to last year’s appropriation.  The Senate Energy and Water subcommittee indicated that cuts to GTRI would delay the goal of conversion of 200 research reactors from running on highly enriched uranium (HEU), which can be fashioned into a crude nuclear weapon if acquired in sufficient quantities, to the less dangerous low enriched uranium (LEU) by 2022.  The Senate committee also expressed concern that massive cuts to the Second Line of Defense program - which installs radiation detectors at border crossings, airports and seaports – within INMPC would undermine ongoing efforts to prevent nuclear smuggling.

“The administration’s FY 2013 budget request for core nuclear material security programs was difficult to understand given the emphasis it has rightly placed on preventing nuclear terrorism,” said Kingston Reif, Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. “The request actually decreased funding for these essential activities while it showered money on the controversial MOX program and USEC, neither of which contribute to the four-year goal. Congress provided the administration with a useful reminder that it ought to think twice about submitting such an imbalanced budget request in the future.”

The appropriations bills could be sent to the floor of the House and Senate as early as mid-May.

The FMWG is a coalition of more than 65 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security. It was formed to support and help implement the goal of promptly securing all vulnerable fissile materials. For more information, visit www.fmwg.org. 

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CONTACT: In South Korea Sean Harder (sharder@stanleyfoundation.org or 912-210-2862); in United States Jim Baird (jim@rethinkmedia.org or 202-510-7586)

Seoul Nuclear Security Summit Delivers Modest Results

Experts Call for Bolder Action to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

The communiqué and commitments world leaders agreed to today at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit mark a modest but important step forward in the effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials around the globe. However, bolder action is needed to effectively counter the threat of nuclear terrorism, according to the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), an international coalition of nuclear security experts.

 “Several key steps should be taken prior to the next Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands in 2014. States should institutionalize binding, comprehensive standards for security that emphasize performance and accountability,” said Ken Luongo, co-chair of the FMWG and president of the Partnership for Global Security.

 “The current nuclear material security regime is a patchwork of unaccountable voluntary arrangements that are inconsistent across borders,” Luongo said. “This system is not commensurate with either the risk or consequences of nuclear terrorism. Consistent standards, transparency to promote international confidence, and national accountability are additions to the regime that are urgently needed.”

 Outcomes of particular note from the Seoul Summit include setting a target date of 2014 for bringing the amendment of the Convention for the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) into force; the addition of several nations such as Italy pledging to eliminate their stocks of fissile material; and an agreement between the U.S., France, Belgium and the Netherlands to produce medical isotopes without the use of highly enriched uranium by 2015.

 “These pledges represent the most concrete results from the summit and represent some useful steps forward,” said Miles Pomper, senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and FMWG Steering Committee member. “If they are to be realized, however, the White House will have to be more active than it has been in winning congressional support for appropriate legislation and sufficient funding.”

Duyeon Kim, deputy director of nuclear nonproliferation, at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, lauded the inclusion of the nuclear safety and security interface in the Communiqué in the aftermath of Fukushima that demonstrated that a Fukushima-like terrorist attack is plausible.

“Notable achievements [in the Communiqué] is a consensus on and vision for strengthening nuclear safety-security as well as raising the importance of radiological security since the 2010 Summit,” Kim said. “Not only did world leaders acknowledge the overlap between nuclear safety and security, but they’ve agreed that the measures need to be incorporated in all stages including effective emergency preparedness. It’s an extremely significant first step but the key is implementing and sustaining measures that strengthen the nuclear safety-security nexus beyond 2014 as long as we opt for nuclear power to meet our energy needs.”

“Also, setting a target date to announce each country's plans on minimizing the civilian use of HEU by the end of 2013 is a positive step forward but so far it's an 'encouragement' to do so and the key is in the details, which are unclear."

By the end of the four-year effort, there will be major progress in reducing the risk of nuclear theft and terrorism, said Matthew Bunn, co-principal investigator of the Managing the Atom Project at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and FMWG Steering Committee member.

“But we won't be done — keeping nuclear materials out of terrorist hands will require a culture of continual improvement sustained as long as nuclear weapons and the materials needed to make them continue to exist,” Bunn said. "With at least two and probably three major terrorist groups having pursued nuclear weapons over the last 20 years, we cannot expect they will be the last,” Bunn said. “Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, the world is likely to be confronting the danger of nuclear terrorism as long as nuclear weapons and the materials needed to make them continue to exist."

Post-summit reactions from other FMWG members include:

• Alexandra Toma, FMWG co-chair and executive director of the Connect U.S. Fund: "Leaders should be proud of what's been accomplished to date, but they must also be realistic that global nuclear security cannot be accomplished in four years, as they originally agreed. A challenge as great as global nuclear terrorism requires constant vigilance and further improvements to the current system, which still remains a patchwork of voluntary agreements. Let's keep momentum going through the 2014 Summit in the Netherlands and beyond."
  
  
• Sico van der Meer, research fellow, Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael: "Improving global nuclear security is a long-term process, the problem will not be solved in only a few years. This is why the Netherlands is fully committed to organize the third Nuclear Security Summit in 2014. These high-level summits are the best guarantee to retain international attention."
  

• Sharon Squassoni, director and senior fellow, Proliferation Prevention Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, “The Seoul meeting demonstrates that summit diplomacy can only accomplish so much.  States should use the time between now and the next summit to identify and target additional gaps in protection against nuclear terrorism as a high priority.”
  

• Nobuyasu Abe, director of the Center for the Promotion of Disarmament and Non-proliferation at the Japan Institute of International Affairs: “A willful and targeted act of terrorism would be more vicious than the natural disasters that may hit nuclear power stations or spent fuel storages. There is no unilateral solution to the shared global threat posed by nuclear terrorism. More countries must be enlisted in this truly global endeavor. Our best defense is a strong, united front to prevent nuclear terror."

 The FMWG, a nongovernmental coalition of over 65 U.S. and international expert organizations, aims to provide action-oriented and innovative policy solutions to counter the threat of nuclear terrorism. For more information, visit www.fmwg.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sean Harder, 319-455-6397, sharder@stanleyfoundation.org

Experts to Share Expectations for Nuclear Security Summit

Save the Date: March 13 Press Briefing

Journalists planning to report on the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, will want to attend this press briefing for expert insights on achievements since President Obama’s first summit in 2010 and expectations for what world leaders may accomplish in Seoul.

WHAT: Pre-Summit Press Briefing with Nuclear Security Experts. Report to be released: “The Nuclear Security Summit: Assessment of National Commitments” by Arms Control Association and Partnership for Global Security.

WHEN: Noon – 2 p.m., Tuesday, March 13 (Lunch will be served)

WHERE: First Amendment Lounge, 13th Floor, National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.

TO RSVP: Press only, please email Sean Harder at sharder@stanleyfoundation.org

The Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul will be the second such gathering of more than 40 world leaders to discuss securing nuclear materials. The following members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FWMG), a coalition of more than 60 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security, will share their expectations and insights on the Nuclear Security Summit:

• Kenneth N. Luongo, co-chair of the FMWG and president/founder of the Partnership for Global Security. Former senior advisor to the Secretary of Energy for nonproliferation policy and Director of the Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the DOE.

• Alexandra Toma, co-chair of the FMWG and executive director of the Connect U.S. Fund. Former congressional foreign policy advisor and defense analyst.

• William H. Tobey, senior fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Former Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

• Michelle Cann, senior budget and policy analyst, Partnership for Global Security. Co-author of “The Nuclear Security Summit: Assessment of National Commitments.”

• Kelsey Davenport, Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow at the Arms Control Association. Co-author of “The Nuclear Security Summit: Assessment of National Commitments.”
  

The FMWG formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible. For more information about the FMWG, please visit www.fmwg.org or follow us on Twitter @FMWG.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Ryan Costello (rcostello@connectusfund.org or 703 963-1901)

Obama Administration Cuts Vital Programs Combating Nuclear Terrorism

FY 13 Budget Threatens to Weaken Global Nuclear Security

The Obama administration’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request takes a major step backwards in the fight to prevent nuclear terrorism by slashing key nuclear security budgets in all the major agencies involved in the effort, the Fissile Materials Working Group, a nonpartisan group of nuclear security experts said today.  The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) took the biggest cut at $293 million, while the State Department received an overall 7% reduction and a key Department of Defense effort a $21 million reduction.  These cuts are being proposed on the eve of the March Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, where over 50 world leaders will come together to consider how to better secure all vulnerable nuclear materials and prevent nuclear terrorism. 

The NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and the International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation program (INMPC), the Pentagon’s Global Nuclear Security program, and the State Department’s Global Threat Reduction and Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism programs all work together to protect vulnerable nuclear bomb-making and radiological materials around the world and deter efforts to smuggle these materials in dangerous regions. These materials are critical ingredients necessary to fashion crude nuclear weapons or a dirty bomb. Intelligence indicates terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, have been actively seeking these materials.

Ken Luongo, Co-Chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG) and President of the Partnership for Global Security, said the administration’s budget is “an assault on common sense and a threat to American and international security.”

In January 2010, both the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism and a former high-ranking CIA official warned that al-Qaeda is actively seeking nuclear materials to use against the United States. The bipartisan 9/11 Commission responsible for investigating the terrorist attacks of September 11th warned that, “The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will materialize if the world’s most dangerous terrorists acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

The $32 million cut from GTRI is to a program that would remove nuclear and radiological materials from vulnerable civilian sites worldwide.  The drastic $259 million in cuts to the INMPC program, a 45% cut below FY 2012, comes primarily to programs to detect the smuggling of nuclear and radiological materials around the globe.

Just weeks ago, James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, testified that nuclear proliferation is one of the “top concerns” to American security and warned that “WMD-related materials may become vulnerable to nonstate actors, if the security that protects them erodes.”  

“The nuclear terrorism threat is still out there.  Congress and the administration need to provide enough money so that critical efforts to reduce the risk are not slowed by a lack of funds,” said Matthew Bunn, FMWG Steering Committee Member and Co-Principal Investigator with the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard University.  “Rather than cutting back, we need to expand our efforts to secure and consolidate nuclear stockpiles around the world and not let our imagination be constrained by our budget.”

In response to President Obama's budget request, Dr. Catherine Thomasson, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, indicated that, "it makes no sense to reduce the much needed funding for the International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation program and the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.   These vital programs safeguard the health and security of all Americans and must be protected.”

The FMWG is a coalition of more than 60 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security. It was formed to support and help implement the goal of promptly securing all vulnerable fissile materials.

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• Launch a next generation nuclear security initiative.
• Accelerate efforts to consolidate and eliminate nuclear bomb-making materials.
• Propose a date for the global elimination of civil highly enriched uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon.
• Request and pursue sufficient financing for nuclear security.
• Extend and expand the G-8 Global Partnership for another 10 years.

CONTACT: Ryan Costello at (703) 963-1901 or Rcostello@connectusfund.org

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of nuclear security experts is congratulating the South African government and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for their efforts in returning 6.3 kilograms (13.8 pounds) of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to the United States. 

Such efforts strengthen the world’s defenses against nuclear terrorism by locking down vulnerable material that could be used to produce a nuclear weapon.  As little as 25 kilograms of HEU is required for a workable nuclear weapon.  NNSA has worked with international partners, including South Africa, to remove or adequately secure 3,091 kilograms of HEU or plutonium. 

The NNSA’s effort with South Africa is a success story that should inspire further progress in enhancing the global nuclear security regime.  For the United States, the Senate should act to restore funding cut from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative’s (GTRI) reactor conversion program, which converts nuclear reactors to run on non-weapon-grade low enriched uranium (LEU) rather than highly enriched uranium (HEU).  The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the program, has set a goal to convert 200 research reactors to LEU by 2022.

While South Africa’s U.S.-origin HEU has been returned, South Africa still retains a large quantity of HEU that poses a potential security vulnerability. 

"This is another important step in reducing the danger posed by HEU around the world.  It should provide a good foundation for the key step — addressing the far larger stock of HEU left over from South Africa's weapons program,” said Matthew Bunn, an associate professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, FMWG Steering Committee member, and author of Securing the Bomb 2010. 

Miles Pomper, Senior Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and FMWG Steering Committee Member, noted that “South Africa could take a major leadership role in nonproliferation and save millions of dollars in nuclear fuel costs by blending its stores of HEU to low-enriched uranium fuel for its civilian nuclear reactor."

The FMWG, a coalition of more than 60 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.

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The U.S. Senate should restore $85 million that the U.S. House recently cut from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, a program aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism, write Kenneth C. Brill, president of the Fund for Peace, and Kenneth N. Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security.

"Beltway budget battles always produce a lot of game-playing," the co-authors write. "But protecting America’s security is not a political game. The programs the House has cut are proven, effective and prudent national security investments to prevent nuclear terrorism and its devastating consequences. Slashing America’s best defense against nuclear terror will not make us safer or richer. In fact, it could invite the opposite result."

The cuts mark the second time in six months that lawmakers have cut programs aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism. These programs have removed several tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium from countries that otherwise might have been unable to prevent the material from falling into the hands of terrorists.

"The House budget cuts come on top of the unprecedented 14 percent reductions made to those programs in the current federal budget. By comparison, from 2001 through 2010, Congress cut the budget by a cumulative total of slightly less than 1 percent," Brill and Luongo write.

Brill and Luongo are both members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), a coalition of more than 60 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.

For interviews with either Brill or Luongo, contact Sean Harder at 319-455-6397.

# # #  

The most significant cuts to the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, which helps reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism, are to a program that converts nuclear reactors to run on non-weapon-grade low enriched uranium (LEU) rather than highly enriched uranium (HEU).  As little as 25 kilograms of HEU is required for a workable nuclear weapon. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the program, has set a goal to convert 200 research reactors to LEU by 2022.

More than 125 of those reactors still need to be converted. Many are in Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and some have a history of lax security. Without this funding, the conversion program will face delays.  In addition, the bill zeros out funding for the removal of 1,900 unwanted and dangerous radioactive sources in the United States. Radiological sources can be used in a “dirty bomb”.

The cuts to the reactor program would have been far more severe but for the passage of a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), which restored $35 million out of the $70 million cut from the program by the House Appropriations Committee.  Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), the chair of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, and Rep. Pete Visclosky, the ranking member of the subcommittee, both spoke in favor of the amendment, which passed on a voice vote. 

The Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), a coalition of more than 60 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security, is urging the Senate to take advantage of the bipartisan consensus on this issue to restore full funding for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.

“The added $35 million is a first step in rectifying a situation that would have delayed several reactors from being converted this year, which would have delayed their HEU from being removed for a couple more years,” said Matthew Bunn, an associate professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, FMWG Steering Committee member, and author of Securing the Bomb 2010.  “Funding for this program directly affects the pace at which HEU can be removed from vulnerable sites.”

“These programs are America’s first line of protection against the ultimate nightmare of nuclear terrorism and this budget lowers America’s defenses against this danger. It is irresponsible in my view,” said Ken Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security and co-chair of the FMWG.

Despite the difficult economy, it is important for Congress to give priority to spending on critical programs aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism, which the U.S. National Security Strategy regards as the greatest threat to the American public, Luongo said.

As Luongo indicates, "[t]he House budget cuts come on top of the unprecedented 14 percent reductions made to these programs in the current federal budget. By comparison from 2001 through 2010, the Congress cut the budget by a cumulative total of slightly more than one-half of a percent."

Bipartisan experts, including Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of Defense William Perry, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Senator Sam Nunn, have uniformly recommended strengthening efforts to eliminate nuclear material from the black market by locking down existing stockpiles and reducing the amount of material that could be obtained by rogue states and terrorists. The 2010 U.S. Government’s National Security Strategy stated that, “There is no greater threat to the American people than weapons of mass destruction, particularly the danger posed by the pursuit of nuclear weapons by violent extremists.”

The FMWG, a coalition of U.S. and international experts, was formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.

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The Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG) is calling on the 112th Congress to fully fund the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Defense Nuclear Non-proliferation Account, which supports front line programs in the prevention of nuclear terror.

“There is no real opposition either in the House or Senate to maintaining full funding for these programs and there has always been strong bipartisan support for them dating back to the first Bush administration, said Ken Luongo, co-chair of the FMWG and President of the Partnership for Global Security. “The Congress and Administration should put out a joint statement that declares these efforts absolutely essential to American security and therefore off limits to cuts, just like the defense department’s budget. It makes no sense that the funding for defense against a nuclear attack by another nation is protected but defending against nuclear terrorism is not.”

House Republicans put forth a budget proposal last month that cut non- proliferation programs by more than $600 million. The draft Senate proposal for Defense Nuclear Non-proliferation includes nearly $300 million more than the House spending bill but still falls short of the fiscal year 2011 (FY11) request.

"The draft Senate proposal, nearly $300 million more than the House proposal, is an improvement but still not enough funding to successfully confront the serious threat posed by the spread of vulnerable nuclear materials,” said Alexandra Toma, FMWG co-chair and executive director of The Connect U.S. Fund.

In January 2010, both the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism and a former high-ranking CIA official warned that al-Qaeda is actively seeking nuclear materials to use against the United States The bipartisan 9/11 Commission responsible for investigating the terrorist attacks of September 11th warned that, “The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will materialize if the world’s most dangerous terrorists acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

In mid-2009, the global stockpile of nuclear materials was large enough to build more than 120,000 nuclear bombs. In 2010, NNSA programs secured 800 bombs worth of material. The most recent removal took 111 pounds of highly enriched uranium fuel from three sites in Ukraine.

The FMWG is a coalition of more than 40 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security. It was formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.

The Fissile Material Working Group, or FMWG, sent members of Congress a letter on Monday asking that the funds be restored in order to preserve programs intended to prevent nuclear terrorism. The full version of the letter can be found here.

“We urge you to ensure that threat reduction and nonproliferation programs at NNSA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State are funded at the FY 2011 requested level for the remainder of the fiscal year,” the letter states. “No less than America’s national security is at stake.”

President Obama requested more than $2 billion for international programs to secure weapons-grade materials in FY 2011. A critical piece of that request included a $320 million increase that enables the National Nuclear Security Administration and Department of Defense to secure and eliminate nuclear materials around the world. A spending bill passed in December, however, did not include that increase.

“Experts agree that limiting access to vulnerable nuclear weapons-usable materials will greatly reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism,” the FMWG states in its letter. “The global financial cost and terrible destruction of a nuclear terrorist attack would dwarf the costs of preventing such an attack.”

The FMWG is a coalition of more than 40 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security. It was formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.
 

With the objective of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide in four years, President Obama asked for an increase of $320 million in fiscal year 2011 (FY11) for key National Nuclear Security Administration and Department of Defense programs that support the four-year effort. The Defense Authorization Act approved the full request, but the appropriations were dropped at the last minute in the Continuing Resolution (CR) Congress passed.

“With enough material out there to make over 120,000 more nuclear bombs, and with bipartisan
support in both the Senate and the House, it is shocking that nuclear nonproliferation programs
got cut in the Continuing Resolution,” said Alexandra Toma, executive director of the Connect 
U.S. Fund and co-chair of the FMWG. “In the dead of night, these provisions were removed and 
now our country is less safe because of it.”

The first Obama budget for FY10 funded these key programs at $40 million below the last Bush
administration budget, and that is what is now enshrined in the CR. That sends the wrong signal
about the US commitment to preventing nuclear terrorism, said Kenneth Luongo, president of
the Partnership for Global Security and FMWG co-chair.

"We need to keep the potential tools of terrorists in secure hands and restore FY11 funding for
all nonproliferation programs in Defense, Energy and State," said Dr. Paul Walker, director of
Security and Sustainability at Global Green USA, an FMWG member.

Congress has another opportunity to increase the funding before the CR expires in March.

The FMWG is a coalition of more than 40 U.S. experts representing many of the top
nonproliferation and nuclear security organizations in the country and also includes more than a
dozen international partner organizations. Members work to promote practical and achievable
policy initiatives to secure vulnerable nuclear materials and prevent nuclear terrorism.

For more information, visit www.fmwg.org.

To arrange an interview with an FMWG expert, email sharder@stanleyfoundation.org or call
319-455-6397.

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Locking down global stockpiles of nuclear weapons usable materials like HEU and plutonium to prevent nuclear terrorism was the focus of the unprecedented Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, D.C. in April 2010. Belarus was not invited to the Washington summit, but as a result of its decision to eliminate its HEU, it will now be included in the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

“This is an extremely positive development.  It proves that the Nuclear Security Summit
process is a powerful incentive and is delivering important results.  It should continue
beyond the ROK summit into the future,” said Kenneth N. Luongo, president of the
Partnership for Global Security and co-chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group
(FMWG).

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Belarus Foreign Minister Sergey
Martynov announced the HEU removal decision on the sidelines of a security summit in
Kazakhstan.  Their joint statement said “the United States intends to provide technical
and financial assistance to support the completion of this effort as expeditiously as
possible.”  The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, a member of the
FMWG, estimates the Belarus’ Sosny research institute possesses between 170 and
370 kilograms of HEU.

"This important effort to secure hundreds of kilograms of high enriched uranium by
Belarus sets an important example for all countries, not just the 47 nations which
participated in the April Nuclear Security Summit," said Dr. Paul Walker, Director of
Security and Sustainability at Global Green USA and a steering committee member of
the FMWG.     "This timely commitment by Belarus also underlines the importance of
continued US funding for nonproliferation and threat reduction in the Departments of
Defense, Energy, and State for the foreseeable future."

The FMWG is a coalition of more than 40 U.S. experts representing many of the top
nonproliferation and nuclear security organizations in the country and also includes
more than a dozen international partner organizations.   Members work to promote
practical and achievable policy initiatives to secure vulnerable nuclear materials and
prevent nuclear terrorism.

For more information, visit www.fmwg.org.

To arrange an interview with an FMWG expert, email sharder@stanleyfoundation.org.

Washington DC – After depending for decades on medical isotopes produced overseas using dangerous highly enriched uranium (HEU), the United States has for the first time ever imported medical isotopes made with low enriched uranium (LEU), a move that holds potential for reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism, experts say.

"This is a landmark development in the transition to the end of the use of weapon grade nuclear materials in civilian applications,” said Kenneth Luongo, co-chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG) and president of the Partnership for Global Security.

Radiopharmaceuticals derived from molybdenum-99 are used annually in more than 16 million medical imaging procedures in the United States alone. However, only 25 kg of HEU – which is contained within molybdenum-99 – would be necessary for a state or non-state actor to produce a single nuclear weapon. Low-enriched uranium poses far less of a risk.

The critical radioisotopes imported by the U.S. were produced by a subsidiary of the state-owned South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). The first production-scale shipment has now been received in the United States for further evaluation and subsequent distribution to thousands of hospitals nationwide. Necsa’s success in using LEU belies skeptics’ claims that converting to LEU-based production would be too difficult and time consuming to effectively provide medical isotopes on the global market.

“South Africa should be commended for recognizing that the future of medical isotope production lies with processes that avoid HEU entirely. The upcoming 9/11 anniversary reminds us how devastating conventional acts of terror can be; there’s no better time for the Senate to take action so others will follow South Africa’s hopeful lead and help reduce the chances of the unimaginable destruction that would result from nuclear terror," said Miles Pomper, senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and a member of the FMWG Steering Committee.

Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives moved quickly and overwhelmingly to pass the American Medical Isotopes Production Act, which promotes domestic production of medical isotopes and phases out the export of weapon-grade uranium for the purpose of producing radiopharmaceuticals. However, the bill has stalled in the Senate, where Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) has continued to block its consideration, claiming that it would interrupt the supply of molybdenum-99. This argument has been rejected by numerous experts from the government and private sector.

The Fissile Materials Working Group is a coalition of more than 40 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security. It was formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.
 

The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee voted July 15 to fully fund the administration's request for these funds. Its Senate counterpart subcommittee followed suit on July 20, with the full Senate Appropriations Committee adopting the increase on July 22.

For more information, please see the attached release or visit www.fcnl.org.

Matthew Bunn, associate professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and co-principal investigator for the Project on Managing the Atom.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

Michael Landweber, associate director of the Partnership for a Secure America.

Kenneth N. Luongo, president and founder of the Partnership for Global Security and co-chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group.

Miles Pomper, senior research associate, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Alexandra Toma, program director for the Connect U.S. Fund and co-chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group.

Elizabeth Turpen, associate at Booz Allen Hamilton and expert on nonproliferation policy

Nuclear security experts called the Nuclear Security Summit convened by President Obama a major step toward overcoming the barriers to locking down vulnerable nuclear materials to keep them out of the hands of terrorists, but they warned that the real measure of progress will be accountability in implementing the measures discussed at the summit.

“The President has put his personal prestige on the line like no other world leader has before,” said Kenneth Luongo, President and Founder of Partnership for Global Security and Co-Chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group. “Taken together the individual commitments of participating
nations themselves will materially advance the nuclear security agenda. But, when the lights go
down tonight, leaders need to hit the ground running on implementation.”

“The summit represents a major step in making nuclear security an international priority and
increasing the level of commitment to dealing with it, but the administration and partner
governments need to turn this momentum into real action in the months and years ahead,” said
Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of
Government and Co-Principal Investigator for The Project on Managing the Atom.

"The summit should be the beginning, not the end of global efforts to improve nuclear security,"
said Miles Pomper, Senior Research Association, The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation
Studies. “For example, we need to do more to work toward phasing out highly enriched
uranium.”

Luongo, Bunn, and Pomper are members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), a
coalition of more than 40 leading experts and NGOs in nuclear security that hosted a parallel
summit on Tuesday for experts and NGOs from 37 nations.

"While the official nuclear security summit will include 43 heads of state," Rep. Schiff wrote, "your event will emphasize that the importance of this objective extends beyond governments and must be a central concern of the larger global community."

The FMWG will hosts its Next Generation Nuclear Security event, a parallel summit of leading nuclear security experts and non-governmental organizations from countries participating in the official summit on April 12, 2010. The event will be webcast live here: http://ow.ly/1u5g9

The link will remain active and lead to edited, archived video following the event.

The upcoming Nuclear Security Summit offers an historic opportunity to forge new agreements to secure nuclear materials worldwide and prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists, FMWG experts told reporters last week at the National Press Club.

Journalists reporting on the Nuclear Security Summit are invited to join an online press briefing with FMWG experts on Tuesday afternoon.

WHEN: The press briefing will begin 30 MINUTES following the conclusion of President Obama’s press conference scheduled in the afternoon of Tuesday, April 13. The press briefing will continue for 60 minutes and go longer if necessary to accommodate questions.

HOW: Go to ow.ly/1wyBu and enter your name, email, and password: NUCLEARsummit413
Call 1-866-699-3239 and enter the access code: 572 965 658 (You must call in to hear the briefing, even if logged in online)

Four members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), a collection of more than 40 leading experts in nuclear security and nonproliferation, said the summit itself is an important demonstration of a broad multinational commitment to nuclear material security that has not been made to date.

A successful summit would be marked by actionable and verifiable commitments by the more than 40 world leaders who will gather in Washington, D.C. April 12-13, and a broad consensus that nuclear terrorism is a threat to all nations, said Matthew Bunn, associate professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and co-principal investigator for the Project on Managing the Atom.

“Nuclear material anywhere is a threat to everyone, everywhere,” Bunn said. “Securing these stocks is a big job, a complicated job, but a do-able job.”

On April 12, the FMWG is hosting the Next Generation Nuclear Security event, a parallel summit of leading nuclear security experts, the nuclear industry, and non-governmental organization from countries participating in the official summit. The event will be webcast live here: http://ow.ly/1u5g9

The link will remain active and lead to edited, archived video following the event.

Journalists planning to cover the Nuclear Security Summit will want to visit the FMWG’s Web site at www.fmwg.org for new background resources, including:

•    A congressional briefing on Funding the Objective of Securing all Vulnerable Nuclear Material in Four Years by Kenneth Luongo
•    A congressional briefing on Securing Nuclear Stockpiles in Four Years by Matthew Bunn
•    An article on Making the Nuclear Security Summit Matter: An Agenda for Action by Kenneth Luongo
•    Nuclear Material Security Policy and Funding Resources by the Partnership for Global Security
•    The FMWG’s letter to Congress regarding adequate nuclear security funding in FY2011
•    The new Fissile Materials Working Group column in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
•    The FMWG’s three part blog series on Nuclear Security Summit issues on the Partnership for a Secure America’s “Across the Aisle” blog
•    Radioactive Challenge, an original video report by the Stanley Foundation about the challenge of securing fissile materials worldwide.

“In fact, Congress could consider boosting the current year’s budget for nuclear security by a modest $115 million as part of a supplemental appropriations bill to kickstart the process.”

Luongo, the president of the Partnership for Global Security, and Toma, the program director for The Connect U.S. Fund, co-chair the Fissile Materials Working Group. The group of more than 40 leading nuclear experts formed to support the goal of securing all fissile materials as quickly as possible.

You can read the full op-ed here: http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/86325-facing-the-nuclear-terrorism-threat

The 9/11 Commission and subsequent studies have confirmed that al Qaeda is actively seeking nuclear materials to use against America. As a result, bipartisan experts have uniformly recommended strengthening our efforts to limit the availability of nuclear material to terrorists by eliminating this material from the black market, locking down existing stockpiles, and reducing the number of nuclear weapons around the world that can fall into the hands of our enemies. 

For more information about the FMWG, an agenda for the group’s international summit and related activities, please visit www.fmwg.org. 

WHAT: Pre-Summit Press Briefing with Nuclear Security Experts

WHEN: Noon – 2 p.m., April 6 (Lunch will be served)

WHERE: Holeman Lounge, 13th Floor, National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.

TO RSVP: Email Sean Harder at sharder@stanleyfoundation.org

The Nuclear Security Summit will bring together more than 40 world leaders to discuss securing nuclear materials worldwide. The following members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FWMG), a collection of more than 40 leading experts in nuclear security and nonproliferation, will share their expectations and insights on the Nuclear Security Summit:

• Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Former advisor to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he played a major role in U.S. policies related to the control and disposition of weapons-usable nuclear materials.
• Kenneth Luongo, co-chair of the FMWG and president and founder of the Partnership for Global Security. Former senior advisor to the Secretary of Energy for nonproliferation policy and Director of the Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the DOE.
• Alexandra Toma, co-chair of the FMWG and program director of the Connect U.S. Fund and expert in national security policymaking.
• Elizabeth “Libby” Turpen, associate at Booz Allen Hamilton and expert on national security, nuclear weapons and nonproliferation policy.

The 9/11 Commission and subsequent studies have confirmed that al Qaeda is actively seeking nuclear materials to use against America. As a result, bipartisan experts have uniformly recommended strengthening our efforts to limit the availability of nuclear material to terrorists by eliminating this material from the black market, locking down existing stockpiles, and reducing the number of nuclear weapons around the world that can fall into the hands of our enemies.

The FMWG has formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible. For more information about the FMWG, an agenda for the group’s international summit and related activities, please visit www.fmwg.org.

• Making the Nuclear Security Summit Matter: An Agenda for Action (http://ow.ly/1cO4s)
• Securing Nuclear Stockpiles in Four Years: Budget and Policy Requirements – A Congressional Hill Briefing by Matthew Bunn (http://ow.ly/1dgJi)
• Funding the Objective of Securing All Vulnerable Nuclear Material in Four Years – A Congressional Hill Briefing by Ken Luongo (http://ow.ly/1cO9O)

Wednesday, February 24 from 11a.m.-12 noon
  Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-11

The press is invited to attend this off-the-record discussion. Bunn and Luongo will be available for interviews immediately following the briefing.

The global stockpile of fissile (nuclear) materials is large enough to build more than 120,000 nuclear bombs and this material continues to accumulate in unstable regions of the world.  The 9/11 Commission and subsequent studies have confirmed that al Qaeda is actively seeking nuclear materials to use against America.  Experts have uniformly recommended strengthening our efforts to limit the availability of nuclear material by eliminating this material from the black market, locking down existing stockpiles, and reducing the number of nuclear weapons around the world that can fall into the hands of our enemies.

President Obama has called for all vulnerable materials worldwide to be secured in four years and is convening an unprecedented heads-of-state summit in April to shore up international commitments to this goal. The FY11 budget provides funding for the second of the four-year effort to secure these dangerous materials.

Luongo and Bunn are members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG). The FMWG was convened as a coalition of top US nuclear policy experts within weeks of President Barack Obama’s April 2009 speech in Prague. It consists of more than 40 US issue experts, academics, and advocates devoted to meeting the policy priority of preventing nuclear terrorism.

The briefing is sponsored by the Stimson Center's Security for a New Century program.

In April this year, President Obama stated that terrorists are “determined to buy, build, or steal” a nuclear weapon, and to prevent this, the U.S. will lead “an international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years.” Within weeks of this announcement, nuclear experts joined together to form the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG) to ensure the Administration meets this policy priority.

A few months later, Obama formally announced plans to host an official heads-of-state summit in 2010 to “develop steps that can be taken together to secure vulnerable materials, combat nuclear smuggling, and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism.”

Seeing the summit as an unprecedented opportunity, the FMWG has decided to host its own summit of NGOs on April 12, 2010, immediately prior to the heads-of-state summit. The NGO summit agenda will offer analysis, education, and policy recommendations that highlight the urgency of nuclear material security.

The FMWG is also planning a pre-summit press briefing for media the week prior to the summit to highlight key objectives that should be addressed at the heads-of-state summit. At a post-summit briefing for the press and public the morning of April 14, the FMWG will provide feedback on the summit communiqué and analysis on the challenges and opportunities coming out of the official summit.
 

The working group is recommending the Obama Administration implement five high-priority policies:

• Launch a new “Next-Generation Nuclear Security Initiative” at or before the nuclear summit that includes a new global nuclear material security roadmap, a plan for broader international scientific cooperation to prevent nuclear theft and terrorism, and a political and technical action plan to achieve the four-year goal.
• Accelerate efforts to secure and eliminate global highly enriched uranium (HEU), plutonium, and nuclear weapon stockpiles, including in the United States, with an immediate focus on minimizing the number of locations at which fissile materials are stored.
• Implement the policy of minimizing HEU use by including in the policy HEU use in all of its manifestations and create a timetable for a ban on the civil use of HEU.
• Request and aggressively pursue sufficient domestic and international funding for removing and securing all vulnerable nuclear materials in four years.
• Extend and expand the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction for another 10 years, reconfiguring it to have a global focus.