2/6/12 Home / Projects & Publications / News www PGS Printer Friendly Page   Programs To Secure Russian Weapons Of Mass Destruction At Risk Of Stagnation, U.S.-Russian Experts Warn Russian American Nuclear Security Advisory Council Carnegie Endowment For International Peace November 13, 2002 Washington�Major problems are delaying progress in the otherwise successful collaboration between the United States and Russia to prevent the theft of poorly-secured weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and related materials, technologies and expertise in the former Soviet Union. The inability or refusal of the governments to correct these problems threatens to leave vast stockpiles of nuclear and chemical weapons and biological agents vulnerable to acquisition by terrorists, rogue states and black marketeers. This is the key finding of a new study, "Reshaping U.S.-Russian Threat Reduction" by the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council (RANSAC) and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, two leading non-governmental groups focused on WMD proliferation. The report, to be released the morning of November 14 at the Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference and online at www.216.119.87.134 or www.ProliferationNews.org, found that threat reduction efforts in WMD and ballistic missile sectors are all suffering from similar implementation problems. The lack of adequate political attention and compartmentalization of these programs have impeded their effectiveness and delayed needed reforms � thereby prolonging the dangers posed by these stockpiles. In particular, the RANSAC-Carnegie study concludes that greater attention must be paid to those threat reduction efforts whose results will be very important in the future, including peacefully employing former weapons scientists and eliminating weapons production infrastructure. The report calls upon U.S. and Russian political leaders to: provide broad, sustained political support for threat reduction cooperation; produce a coordinated strategy for overall threat reduction activities; increase financing for key under-funded efforts; provide greater financial transparency, facility access, and legal protections, and; develop a stronger appreciation for the economic and social dimensions of threat reduction and eliminate unnecessary limitations and restrictions on key programs. The study contains an updated assessment of the current risks posed by the Russian nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and ballistic missile sectors as well as progress made in addressing these dangers. It is the product of a ten-month review of U.S.-Russian threat reduction activities by prominent U.S., Russian, and European non-proliferation experts. The Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council is devoted to ensuring effective nuclear non-proliferation cooperation between the U.S. and Russia and developing new initiatives in support of threat reduction objectives. The Carnegie Endowment Non-Proliferation Project is an internationally recognized source of information and analysis on weapons of mass destruction. For more information on U.S.-Russian nonproliferation efforts, visit www.216.119.87.134 and www.ProliferationNews.org. Contact: Ken Luongo, RANSAC, 202-332-1412 or Scott Nathanson, Carnegie Endowment, 202-939-2211

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