Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC&A): $145million

The budget requests $145 million (an increase from the $140.1 million inFY 1999) to continue MPC&A upgrades at sites in Russia where weapon-usablenuclear materials are stored, including five major uranium and plutoniumcenters, three of the closed cities in the nuclear complex, and tenRussian Navy projects. These funds would also be used to: facilitateconsolidation of some Russian nuclear material stockpiles; provideemergency assistance to MPC&A guard forces in the form of winter clothing,back-up heating units, and other material supplies; enhance securityupgrades in the transportation of nuclear materials; and to continueupgrades to Russian civilian nuclear and regulatory-related sites.

Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI): $30 million

DOE is requesting $30 million (an increase from the $15 million earmarkedin FY 1999 to come from within available funding and prior year balances)to continue this landmark program to foster re-development and downsizingof the Russian nuclear complex, as part of a broad effort to prevent"brain-drain" and proliferation of weapon expertise to other countries.Focused on the ten "closed cities" of the complex, the Nuclear CitiesInitiative aims to develop alternative commercial opportunities for 20,000Russian nuclear weapon scientists and technicians over the next severalyears.

Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP): $30 million

The Energy Department is requesting $30 million (an increase from the $25million earmarked in FY 1999 to come from within available funding andprior year balances) for the Initiatives for Proliferation Preventionwhich facilitates commercial joint ventures between U.S. businesses andRussian chemical, biological, and nuclear weapon institutes. While itshares a similar mission to the Nuclear Cities Initiative and will work intandem with that program, the IPP has not focused heavily on the majorsites of the Russian weapons complex. This is changing, and IPP is beingre-oriented to meet the needs of the nuclear complex. To date, IPP hassponsored over 400 projects employing about 4,500 weapon scientists.

Warhead Dismantlement and Transparency: $16 million

The Department is requesting funds to continue its work defining a warheaddismantlement and transparency regime. A $16 million segment of thebudget for these activities (the full budget request is $27.5 million)would be used to provide for lab-to-lab contracts with the Russians, toenable demonstrations of their warhead dismantlement and transparencytechnologies and concepts to U.S. experts. (The remainder of the budgetwould be used to support domestic activities in this area, including theDepartment's efforts to initiate a START III concept for warheadelimination, via its joint Chairmanship of the interagency task force onwarhead dismantlement.)

Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Transparency: $15.8 million

The DOE is requesting $15.8 million to implement HEU transparencyactivities. These activities provide confidence that Russian low-enricheduranium (LEU) sold to the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) willbe derived from the 30 metric tons of HEU scheduled to be removed fromdismantled Russian weapons in the coming year. This program will:facilitate monitoring at the Russian and U.S. facilities subject to theagreement; analyze information to provide confidence Russia is convertingweapons HEU into LEU; conduct 24 special monitoring visits to Russian HEUconversion and down-blending facilities; fabricate and physically placeblend-down monitoring devices on Russian processes; assist development andnegotiation of new transparency measures; support a permanent office inRussia.

Fissile Materials Disposition (MD): $24.9 million

This program is requesting $24.9 million (unchanged from the FY 1999appropriation) for U.S.-Russian plutonium disposition activities. (Notethe full Materials Disposition budget request is $200 million. Theremainder of funds would be used to proceed with design of a plutonium pitdisassembly and conversion facility, a MOX fabrication facility, and animmobilization facility, as well as for other domestic plutonium-relatedactivities). The $24.9 million would be used to conduct small-scale testsand demonstrations with the Russians, conduct general oversight of Russianplutonium disposition plans, and to continue work toward an officialagreement specifying plutonium disposition rates, facilities, andtechniques to be pursued by Russia.

Export Controls: $3 million

The Energy Department is also requesting $3 million to assist Russia inestablishing and enhancing nuclear material and technology export controlsystems. The funds will support DOE's "Second Line of Defense" programwhich is (1) helping Russian officials establish the necessary legal andregulatory framework for an eventual Russian export control regime, and(2) training and equipping Russia's customs service and border police sothey can detect nuclear smuggling.

Grand Total, DOE FY 2000 requests for Russian nuclear securityactivities: $265 million*

Source: Briefing by Rose Gottemoeller, Director, Office ofNonproliferation and National Security, U.S. Department of Energy,February 1, 1999.

*Note: This total differs from a figure cited on a White House fact sheetregarding Foreign Affairs activities to be supported by the FY 2000 budgetrequest. The fact sheet states: "The budget provides $1.03 billion forassistance to the NIS. Of this total …. $276 million (up $39 million from1999) [is requested] for the Department of Energy WMD programs in theNIS." See www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/Budget2000/forpol.html