Nuclear Smuggling in Moldova, Not Enough Urgency in U.S.
Patricia Morris | Jul 22, 2011 |
0 
A 2009 photo of Russian army check point at the road between Moldova and Transnistra. Photo Credit:Samuel Aranda / Corbis
On June 29, six men were arrested in Moldova for attempting to sell uranium to an undercover security agent, who was posing as a North African buyer. On July 15, the House of Representatives passed the FY 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 2354). Though they occurred on different continents, the two events are closely connected.
The House bill cut funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Second Line of Defense program by over $75 million below the FY 2012 request. The program installs radiation detection equipment to interdict nuclear trafficking at borders, airports and strategic ports in Russia, other former Soviet Union states and further afield.
The bill also cut the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) by $85 million below the FY 2012 request. The cut would have been more draconian but for an amendment offered by Reps. Fortenberry (R-NE) and Sanchez (D-CA) to add $35 million to the program.
GTRI is the key U.S. program in the global cooperative effort to secure and eliminate nuclear materials, including highly enriched uranium, at an accelerated rate.
The Moldovan incident is a warning, as are all nuclear smuggling incidents, that the threat of the theft or sale of dangerous nuclear materials is real. Securing and interdicting these materials is an urgent national security priority, and funding for the programs that support these efforts (such as GTRI) must reflect the urgency of the threat. Maj. Gen. Bruce Lawlor, the director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Technology, Security and Policy, argues that, “the odds of terrorists successfully acquiring nuclear material have increased in their favor.”
trafficking, terrorism, GTRI, Nuclear Prevention Trafficking Act (all tags)
