WASHINGTON , D.C.  - National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Linton F. Brooks today announced that Paul Longsworth, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, will resign from his position effective July 31, 2005, to accept a position in the private sector.

Longsworth was nominated by President Bush on April 28, 2003, and confirmed by the Senate on July 21, 2003. While overseeing NNSA's nonproliferation programs, his principal responsibility has been preventing the spread of materials, technology, and expertise relating to weapons of mass destruction, and for eliminating inventories of surplus fissile material.

"Paul has played a very important role in U.S. nonproliferation efforts worldwide and he has served this agency well," Brooks said. "He has broadened the reach of U.S. nonproliferation programs to meet the emerging threats that confront us. His departure is a huge loss to NNSA and the country. He will be sorely missed."

Longsworth said, "It has been an honor to serve this administration as head of NNSA's nonproliferation programs. The Bush administration has accomplished much during the past several years for nonproliferation to make our nation and the world a safer place. We have accelerated our cooperative security work with the Russian Federation, we have established the Global Threat Reduction Initiative to reduce the quantity of weapons-usable nuclear and radiological material throughout the world, and we have dramatically bolstered our ability to detect nuclear smuggling by equipping the world's seaports and land border crossings with radiation detection equipment."

Prior to his tenure as deputy administrator, Longsworth was the senior policy advisor to the secretary of energy for national security. Longsworth also served as a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Longsworth has also worked for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Department of Energy's Office of Science and Technology, and the Advanced Energy and Environmental Systems Division of BDM International Corporation.

"It has been a pleasure to work with my U.S. colleagues and technical experts from more than 70 nations to ensure that weapons-usable nuclear and radiological materials can never fall into the wrong hands," Longsworth concluded.

Media contact(s):
Bryan Wilkes (202) 586-7371

Number: NA-05-18