The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

Synopsis of Lugar's 'Confidence Building' Moscow Mission

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar met with Russian officials December 16-18 to discuss the future of U.S.-Russia relations, current financial and energy issues, arms control issues including the START and Moscow Treaties, and food security issues. “At this point, confidence building in our relationship is most important,” Lugar said.

The New York Times reported on November 16, 2008 that Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev expressed hope that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama would improve relations. “There is no trust in the Russia-U.S. relations, the trust we need,” President Medvedev said. “Therefore we have great aspirations for the new administration.”

“The purpose of my trip is to find strategic areas important to both our countries and those ways we may contribute to peace in the world and lessen anxieties,” Lugar told former Russian Premier and Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov. “We both share the thought that negotiating the START Treaty in 2009 will affirm to the rest of the world our ability to work together.”

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History of the Nunn-Lugar Program

In November 1991, Senator Lugar (R-IN) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) authored the Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems. On January 30, 2008, Senator Lugar delivered a speech at a Defense Threat Reduction Agency conference, saying arms control has suffered significant setbacks. An excerpt from the speech follows:

"The United States lacks even minimal confidence about many foreign weapons programs. In most cases, there is little or no information regarding the number of weapons or amounts of materials a country may have produced, the storage procedures they employ to safeguard their weapons, or plans regarding further production or destruction programs. We must pay much more attention to making certain that all weapons and materials of mass destruction are identified, continuously guarded, and systematically destroyed."

Latest Nunn-Lugar News

• Jan. 23, 2009: Nunn-Lugar program destroys hundreds of WMD in 2008
• Dec. 16, 2008: Lugar, Nunn honor Kazakhstan
• Dec. 2, 2008: Every measure must be taken to address WMD threats, Lugar says
• Nov. 19, 2008: Nunn-Lugar Update October 2008
• Oct. 20, 2008: Nunn-Lugar Update September 2008
• Oct. 2, 2008: Lugar speech on status of Nunn-Lugar

The Nunn-Lugar Program 15th Anniversary

In August 2007, Senator Lugar and former Senator Nunn traveled to Russia to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar program. Read the Nunn-Lugar program 15th anniversary trip report .

Press releases from the 15th anniversary trip:

• An Albanian Success
• Senators Lugar and Nunn Tour Shchuchye Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility
• Nunn-Lugar Destroying Weapons Once Targeted at U.S.
• Lugar and Nunn Tour Luch Scientific and Industrial Site; View Nuclear Material Consolidation Activities in Russia
• Lugar Speech on the Future of US-Russian Cooperation on Arms Control
• Lugar Speech Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of U.S.-Russian Relations

This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems.

In 2003, Congress adopted the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which authorized the Nunn-Lugar program to operate outside the former Soviet Union to address proliferation threats.

Nunn-Lugar in Albania

Through an expansion effort led by Senator Lugar, the Nunn-Lugar program extended its cooperative reach beyond the former Soviet Union for the first time in 2004.

The Albanian government requested American assistance in destroying newly found chemical weapons.

On July 19, 2007, the Albanian Defense Ministry announced destruction of its chemicals weapons stockpile utilizing the Nunn-Lugar program.

Senator Lugar wrote an op-ed about the success in Albania in August 2007 that ran on the Scripps Howard News Service wire. Additional photos are available in the Nunn-Lugar photo gallery.

The Nunn-Lugar Scorecard

The Nunn-Lugar scorecard now totals 7,504 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated, 742 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) destroyed, 496 ICBM silos eliminated, 143 ICBM mobile launchers destroyed, 633 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) eliminated, 476 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, 422 nuclear weapons transport train shipments secured, upgraded security at 24 nuclear weapons storage sites, and built and equipped 16 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 National Nuclear Security Administration's Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program has funded over 750 projects, engaging thousands of former weapons scientists at over 180 facilities and resulting in the creation of  2,300 new peaceful high-tech jobs.

Nunn-Lugar definition of terms
ICBM – Intercontinental ballistic missile
SLBM – Submarine launched ballistic missile
SSBN – Nuclear submarine capable of launching ballistic missile
ASM – Air-to-surface missile

Nunn-Lugar Trip Reports

• 2007 15th Anniversary Nunn-Lugar Trip Report
• 2005 Nunn-Lugar Report
• 2004 Lugar Trip Report
• 2003 Lugar Trip Report

Nunn-Lugar Links

• Lugar Survey on Proliferation Threats and Responses
• Lugar Commends the Certification of the Indiana Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team
• Nunn-Lugar Photos
• Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Nuclear Threat Initiative