U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar announced that the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program made the following progress in August 2008:

 

·           10 Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) destroyed; and

·           4 train shipments of nuclear weapons sent to safe and secure storage.

 

Lugar has continuously pushed for increased funding for the Nunn-Lugar program because loose and unaccounted weapons and materials of mass destruction remains one of the greatest national security risks to the U.S., along with our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. As Lugar stated in the Lugar Doctrine in December 2001, we must “mak[e] certain that all weapons and materials of mass destruction are identified, continuously guarded, and systematically destroyed.”

 

The Department of Defense authorization and appropriations bills that have passed the Armed Services and Appropriations Committees respectively, and await action on the floor of the U.S. Senate would allocate $434 million for the Nunn-Lugar program in FY09 when passed. This is a $20 million increase over the Bush Administration request.

 

The Nunn-Lugar scorecard now totals 7,292 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated, 720 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) destroyed, 496 ICBM silos eliminated, 131 ICBM mobile launchers destroyed, 631 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) eliminated, 456 SLBM launchers eliminated, 31 nuclear submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles destroyed, 155 bomber eliminated, 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles (ASMs) destroyed, 194 nuclear test tunnels eliminated, 399 nuclear weapons transport train shipments secured, upgraded security at 17 nuclear weapons storage sites, and built and equipped 15 biological monitoring stations.  Perhaps most importantly, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program. Those countries were the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers in the world.

 

Beyond nuclear, chemical and biological elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program has worked to reemploy scientists and facilities related to weapons of mass destruction in peaceful research initiatives. The International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, engaged 58,000 former weapons scientists in peaceful work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has funded 750 projects involving 14,000 former weapons scientists and created some 580 new peaceful high-tech jobs.

 

Lugar makes annual oversight trips to Nunn-Lugar sites in the former Soviet Union and Albania. Lugar and former Sen. Sam Nunn commemorated the 15^th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar program in August 2007.

 

On the web:

The Nunn-Lugar program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/

The Nunn-Lugar scorecard: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/scorecard.html

 

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