THE CHALLENGE OF PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION: STATUS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

With the downsizing of U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, the disposition of the fissile materials recovered from dismantled warheads requires careful and deliberate decision-making to ensure achievement of progress toward disarmament and non-proliferation objectives. The Plutonium Disposition Agreement signed by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin in September 1998 merely set forth the broad aspirational principles to guide programs for the disposition of the fifty tons of excess weapons plutonium belonging to each party. Despite the inchoate stage of the arrangement, Congress appropriated $200 million in emergency funds in October 1998 to support the Russian plutonium disposition program. The complexities of parallel U.S. and Russian tracks for plutonium disposition brings into focus the need for extended cooperation between the U.S. and Russia on safeguards and security for fissile materials. We will discuss differences between U.S. and Russian objectives with respect to their plutonium stockpiles, and, in light of the different circumstances in the two countries, develop implications and suggest paths forward within the broader context of U.S.-Russian relations and U.S. non-proliferation objectives.