UNITED STATES SUPPORT TO THE REPUBLICS OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

In September 1991, the U.S. proposed joint technical cooperation with the republics of the former Soviet Union (FSU) on the safe and secure storage, transportation, and dismantlement of nuclear weapons. In November 1991, Congress enacted the Nunn-Lugar legislation providing U.S. funds to support cooperative programs with the FSU in seven technical areas including material control and accounting and physical protection. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy are leading the U.S. efforts in this area. The objective is to assist the FSU republics in improving their safeguards capabilities to effectively protect nuclear material and facilities. The U.S. and Russia signed an agreement in September 1993 to commence cooperative activities in MC&A and physical protection. Similar agreements were signed with Ukraine and Kazakhstan in December 1993. This paper describes the progress of activities from the signing of the agreements to the present time. INTRODUCTION Under the U.S. initiative for safe and secure dismantlement of nuclear weapons, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are jointly leading the U.S. technical assistance programs with former Soviet Union (FSU) states in nuclear material control and accounting (MC&A) and physical protection. Two papers presented at the 1993 Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (References 1 and 2) describe the program (now known as the Comprehensive Threat Reduction (CTR) Program) and the progress achieved through the summer of 1993. This paper will provide an update on the progress of the program, and address aspects of technical cooperation between the U.S. and FSU countries.