U.S. Government to Sponsor Anti-Nuclear Smuggling Workshop in the DRC

Participants at the State Department’s Preventing Nuclear Smuggling Program’s Legislative Drafting Workshop on the Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Material, May 19-20 at Hotel Memling, Kinshasa, DRC. (Photo Baya Nsenga)

The United States Government and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have agreed to hold a two-day workshop hosted by the State Department’s Preventing Nuclear Smuggling Program (PNSP), May 19-20, 2011, in Kinshasa, to review the DRC’s legal tools to combat nuclear smuggling.  This workshop is part of the Joint Action Plan between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Combating Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Material, signed in Kinshasa on December 21, 2010. 

In this workshop, U.S. Department of Justice and DRC officials will review the DRC’s legal authorities to prosecute illicit trafficking in nuclear and radiological materials, and will discuss possible improvements as appropriate.

The U.S. Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative first engaged the DRC in March 2010 to strengthen the partnership between the U.S. and DRC governments to prevent, detect, and respond to attempts to smuggle nuclear or highly radioactive materials.  The two governments developed the December 2010 Joint Action Plan, specifying 45 priority actions to be taken to improve anti-smuggling capabilities in the DRC.  The Government of the DRC is implementing those steps it can take on its own.  The United States Government, other governments, and international organizations are providing assistance for implementation of the remaining steps.