Nuclear materials safeguards -- The price of admission for Russian-US nuclear collaborations

In the summer of 1994, the US Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a joint program with Russia and the other states of the FSU (former Soviet Union) to help them upgrade their nuclear materials safeguards. The so-called materials protection, control, and accounting (MPC and A) program was based on a novel laboratory-to-laboratory approach, taking advantage of the trust that DOE laboratory scientists and engineers had developed with their Russian nuclear laboratory counterparts in joint scientific collaborations dating back to 1992. This approach proved very successful in tackling the extremely sensitive issue of how the United States could help Russia modernize its safeguards over its military and civilian nuclear materials. However, in addition to the great progress made during the past 4 yr, those involved in the effort have also begun to realize the immensity of the job. Although the current MPC and A program is providing immediate security enhancements, the US must begin now to lay the foundation for a sustainable system of safeguards--one that the FSU states will be able to support themselves over the long term. In addition, measures must be taken to reduce the great hardship experienced by the workers and residents of the nuclear weapons complexmore » (most of whom still reside in the ten closed nuclear cities of Russia). No system of safeguards will work over the long term if the custodians continue to experience the stress they face currently in these nuclear cities. Finally, the amount of weapons-usable material eventually must be permanently reduced through disposition or other use of these materials. These are the key elements of the critical next steps that the authors see for US engagement with Russia on the issue of nuclear materials. Above all, they view the protection of all nuclear materials all of the time in Russia and the other states of the FSU to be the most important and most urgent step -- which they call the ``price of admission`` for all nuclear collaborations.« less