Doing More to Prevent a Nuclear 9/11

I recently co-authored an article detailing the threat posed to the world by nuclear proliferation, and what steps our nation can take to address these threats.  I wrote the article with my good friend Jack Caravelli, who served on the White House National Security Council staff during the Clinton Administration, and who was Director of the Office of International Material Protection at the Department of Energy.

This article was also recently published on the Hall Institute of Public Policy’s website.  You can view it by clicking here.

Doing More to Prevent a Nuclear 9/11
By Rob Andrews and Jack Caravelli

Nonproliferation has returned to the headlines as the world grapples with how to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and North Korea from expanding its nuclear capability.  The renewed attention to this issue appropriately underscores one of the most critical issues for our national security, and we must not allow attention on these two pressing problems to force broader efforts to identify and secure loose nuclear material around the world to fall by the wayside.  President George Bush has described these loose nukes as the "greatest threat" to national security. The 9/11 Commission, led by former NJ Governor Tom Kean, has also spoken eloquently of the need to accelerate our threat reduction work. 

Some progress has been made in this area. This spring, the United States and Russian governments announced the extension of the "umbrella agreement" governing cooperative nuclear threat reduction work.  The bipartisan creation in the early 1990s of Senator Richard Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn, this set of programs has made significant contributions to US national security by destroying many aging former Soviet nuclear capable weapons platforms and securing hundreds of tons of nuclear materials that were at risk of theft and diversion. In addition, a Department of State initiative has helped Russian scientists find employment in areas outside the development of dangerous weapons. These programs have received bipartisan support, receiving over $9 billion dollars in appropriations from Congress. 

In fact, this year Congress sent a clear message to the administration that funding for nuclear nonproliferation programs must be a priority.  An amendment that Representative Andrews authored with Representative Jim Leach (R-IA) to add $27.8 million to the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) passed with broad bipartisan support.  This funding will enable the closing and securing of research reactors around the world where bomb material sits in portable 5" squares ripe for the taking by terrorists.  The security of such material cannot be neglected.  Congress' actions in adding 40% to the GTRI budget this year is a positive step towards implementing the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that nuclear nonproliferation be a top priority.

Unfortunately, this political and funding support notwithstanding, US efforts to ensure that nuclear weapons or fissile material don't fall into the hands of nations such as Iran or various terrorist organizations are in deep trouble.  To cite just one program in the Department of Energy, the Materials Protection, Control, and Accounting division has - in the 12 years that it has been operating - secured about half of the 600 metric tons of nuclear material it has set out to protect.  There are serious doubts that the Department of Energy will be able to meet its target deadline of 2008 for completing this project; a project that will in fact only cover a fraction of plutonium and highly enriched uranium that could be used in a nuclear weapon, stockpiles that are estimated to be at least 4,000 metric tons.  Although there are various other programs in the US government to address some of this material, bureaucratic ineptitude and a flagging sense of urgency has slowed progress dramatically from its encouraging start in the 1990s.  Inconceivably, some programs have set dates as late as 2021 to achieve modest goals, and at least half of known material is not covered by any program.

The American public deserves better than delays and obfuscation concerning nuclear security issues.  At a time when the Department of Homeland Security is far from finished in its task of deploying capabilities to detect such materials being covertly shipped into the United States, it is axiomatic that this domestic imperative is made easier by effective work overseas.

What to do? 

It is overwhelmingly clear that left to its own devices the various bureaucratic elements of the US government have failed to act with the sense of urgency demanded by the 9/11 Commission report and which we believe is essential.  Increased funding is a critical part of the solution, but is not enough.  What is needed is a comprehensive plan that recognizes the imminent threat of a nuclear 9/11 from unsecured nuclear material, and prioritizes security and threat reduction across the US government and in international forums.  This plan must resolve the current cacophony of bureaucratic organizations that are tasked with negotiating new initiatives with foreign governments and bring a badly needed sense of structure and focus to US efforts. The US must be a leader and a model to encourage the fulfillment of the lofty ideals of the recent G-8 meeting, which called for accelerated international cooperation in securing weapons of mass destruction.  Keeping America safe from a nuclear threat should not be a Republican or Democratic issue, but calls for bipartisan commitment to ensuring that nuclear material, both here and abroad, are safe from terrorist misappropriation.

We can no longer afford to believe that the status quo is serving America's security interests.  The clock is ticking and time isn't on our side. 

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