By George Lobsenz
The new U.S-Russian arms control effort announced Wednesday promises to increase pressure on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to further shrink its nuclear weapons production and maintenance complex while offering the agency the promise of expanding nonproliferation initiatives in Russia and other countries.
While the Energy Department’s semi-autonomous weapons agency already is moving to downsize the complex, it already is facing skepticism from Congress that it is cutting aggressively enough–skepticism that will be heightened by President Obama’s announcement that he will seek an agreement with Russia to deeply slash the U.S. nuclear arsenal, greatly reducing the numbers of warheads to be maintained by NNSA.
Obama also announced that he would seek congressional ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which would likely curtail the scope of NNSA test readiness operations at the Nevada Test Site operated by Northrop Grumman [NOC].
However, NNSA was quick to note Wednesday that the joint statement by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev outlining their arms control agenda included numerous statements asserting their desire for expanded U.S.-Russia initiatives on nonproliferation, combating nuclear terrorism threats and promoting the peaceful use of nuclear power.
Obama already has laid out plans to sharply increase nonproliferation funding for NNSA. Sister publication The Energy Daily reported in February that preliminary budget documents on Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal showed the administration quickly ramping up NNSA’s nonproliferation program over the next 10 years.
The documents show that, as part of a broader presidential initiative aimed at addressing “loose nukes” overseas, the administration plans to increase NNSA nonproliferation funding by $862 million above currently planned levels by fiscal year 2019.
Obama’s strong interest in expanding nonproliferation efforts was emphasized by senior administration officials who briefed reporters in London Wednesday on the president’s talks with Medvedev.
“I would just say that the president was very forward-leaning as it relates to his fundamental interests and his fundamental belief that the biggest threat the country faces, our country faces, is a nuclear weapon in the hands of a terrorist,” one of the officials told reporters. “So he leaned very far forward on nonproliferation goals.
“He also made very clear that we continue to remain committed to the goal of locking down all loose fissile material within the next four years. That’s something that we’ll want to work very closely with our Russian colleagues on.
“And so I think it’s important for everyone to see that this president is very committed to making clear that we’re going to do our part as it relates to nuclear technology, as it relates to proliferation, as it relates to locking down loose material,” the official added. “And so we want to send a very clear message that…that this is a very important national security priority not just for us and not just for Russia, but in many other regions.”
In their joint statement, the two presidents did not specify how deeply they would seek to cut their arsenals, but said they wanted an agreement on cuts by July, when Obama plans to visit Moscow.
The statement devoted several paragraphs to nonproliferation goals and to supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) efforts to assure safe development of nuclear power.
“We intend to carry out joint efforts to strengthen the international regime for nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. In this regard we strongly support the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and are committed to its further strengthening,” the statement said.
“Together, we seek to secure nuclear weapons and materials, while promoting the safe use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
“As a key measure of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, we underscored the importance of the entering into force the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. In this respect, President Obama confirmed his commitment to work for American ratification of this treaty.”
They vowed to continue efforts to “minimize the civilian use of highly enriched uranium” and said they would “examine possible new initiatives to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy while strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
“We welcome the work of the IAEA on multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle and encourage efforts to develop mutually beneficial approaches with states considering nuclear energy or considering expansion of existing nuclear energy programs in conformity with their rights and obligations under the NPT.”
Obama’s emphasis on nonproliferation is a sharp change of emphasis for NNSA, which under the Bush administration stressed the need to modernize weapons production capabilities as it moved to shrink a Cold War-era complex sized to maintain the much larger arsenals of the past.
NNSA officials are still proposing to build new high-enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium facilities, which they say are needed not just to ensure continued weapons production capacity but to carry out the bigger nonproliferation mission envisioned by Obama. In particular, they say the new facilities planned for the Y-12 site in Tennessee and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are vital to safely handling and storing HEU and plutonium and improving analytical capabilities needed for nuclear forensics and anti-terrorism efforts.