STATUS REPORT ON US-RUSSIAN LABORATORY-TO-LABORATORY COOPERATION IN NUCLEAR MATERIALS PROTECTION, CONTROL, AND ACCOUNTING

In April 1994, a new program of cooperation on nuclear materials protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) was initiated between (1) the US Department of Energy and its laboratories and (2) nuclear institutes and enterprises of the Russian Federation.’ The program is called the Laboratory-to-Laboratory Nuclear Materials Protection, Control, and Accounting Program (Lab-to-Lab MPC&A Program); it is one of several, complementary US-Russian MPC&A programs. The purpose of the Lab-to-Lab MPC&A Program is to accelerate progress toward a goal that is vital to the national security interests of both countries: reducing the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation by strengthening MPC&A systems. In its first two years, the program has made significant progress and has expanded to include many additional Russian participants. It has also fostered a spirit of mutual understanding, partnership, and respect between US and Russian nuclear specialists, which has paved the way for advances in other MPC&A and nuclear security cooperative efforts. This paper reviews the current status of program. In addition to summarizing background and objectives of the progr~ the the the paper describes highlights of recent work and outlines future directions for Lab-to-Lab MPC&A cooperation.