Achievements, Current Status, and Prospectsfor Russian-American Cooperation in Nuclear Material Physical Protection, Control and Accounting 1998

Collaboration between the U.S. and Russia on problems related to nuclear material physical protection, control and accounting (MPC&A) began as a result of the “Agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on Safe and Reliable Transportation, Storage and Destruction of Weapons and the Prevention of Weapons Proliferation,” signed by the Presidents of both countries on 17 June 1992. Subsequently, the “Agreement between the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation and the Department of Defense of the United States of America on Nuclear Material Physical Protection, Control and Accounting” was signed by the Minister and Secretary of both countries on 2 September 1993. Russian-American collaboration on MPC&A promotes U.S. and Russian national interests in protecting nuclear materials (NM) and preventing illegal trafficking in these materials.