THE US administration has quietly reversed its policy of slashing funds for
weapons non-proliferation programmes in Russia.
In a little-reported statement after Christmas, President Bush said that the
programme of aid to help reduce the threat from Russian nuclear and chemical
material and expertise was working well. This follows a review of the
$750 million the US spends on the programme each year.
The statement is a change from the stance of last March, when the
administration proposed slashing by a third the US Department of Energy鈥檚 budget
for non-proliferation. That includes efforts to introduce new industries to
Russia鈥檚 鈥渘uclear cities鈥�, and projects to guard fissile material and dispose of
excess plutonium. More recently, Bush made no provision for non-proliferation in
the $40 billion emergency defence fund proposed after the 11 September
terrorist attacks.
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Congress vetoed the budget cuts, and also earmarked $226 million of
the emergency funds for non-proliferation. 鈥淭he December statement is a signal
that the administration now agrees,鈥� says Bill Hoehn of the Washington office of
the Russian American Nuclear Security Advisory Council, a Russo-American nuclear
think tank.
Bush has now singled out projects for expansion, including
proposals for employing former Soviet weapons scientists, especially biologists,
and for securing weapons material. 鈥淚 think non-proliferation will get a budget
increase next year,鈥� says Hoehn.
An early beneficiary will be the largely US-funded chemical weapons
destruction plant at Shchuchye, in the Kurgan region of Russia, whose funding
had been held up for several years by Congress. Bush鈥檚 statement also called for
the faster installation of nuclear radiation detection equipment at Russian
border posts.
The Monterey Institute of International Studies says that, so far,
13 plots to smuggle weapons-grade material out of the former Soviet Union have
been made public. Five consignments were intercepted after they had left former
Soviet states. Another is still missing.