Russia pulls out of two-decade deal to co-operate with U.S. on safeguarding its nuclear stockpile
David Blair, The Telegraph | January 23, 2015 | Last Updated: Jan 24 2:41 PM ET
More from The Telegraph
More from The Telegraph
AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Presidential Press ServiceIn
this file photo from Nov. 11, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin,
right, and U.S. President Barack Obama talk on the sidelines of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Beijing.
Russia
has ended two decades of co-operation with America designed to
safeguard the Kremlin’s nuclear sites and protect the world’s biggest
stockpile of weapons-grade uranium.
Experts believe that the security of enough fissile material to make 25,000 nuclear bombs is now on a “downward trend.”
The U.S. established the “Cooperative Threat Reduction Program” in 1991 to help secure nuclear weapons and materials scattered across the Soviet Union, then in the throes of collapse. For the next 24 years, Russian and American experts worked together to dismantle thousands of warheads and install tight security measures at scores of nuclear installations.
But the Kremlin confirmed this week that Russia had withdrawn from this program.
Today, Russia possesses about 700 tons of weapons-grade uranium, enough to make some 25,000 nuclear bombs. In addition, Russia has about 130 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, giving it the biggest hoard of military-related fissile material in the world.
Igor Sutyagin, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, described this decision as “inevitable” given the anti-American focus of Russian foreign policy.
“The good news is that with American assistance, the nuclear sites in Russia are stable and secure,” said Sutyagin. “The bad news is that the security systems were installed many years ago and they’re aging. Russia has the resources to replace them with less sophisticated systems.”
In addition, the personnel at Russian nuclear sites are often
underpaid. Staff at “Tula-50,” where a large proportion of Russia’s
nuclear warheads were stored, went on strike in the 1990s, forcing the
weapons to be dispersed elsewhere. With Russia tipping into economic
crisis, incidents of this kind could recur. The security of Russian
nuclear sites is “not yet a source of immediate concern,” said Sutyagin.
“But the overall trend is downwards.”
Experts believe that the security of enough fissile material to make 25,000 nuclear bombs is now on a “downward trend.”
The U.S. established the “Cooperative Threat Reduction Program” in 1991 to help secure nuclear weapons and materials scattered across the Soviet Union, then in the throes of collapse. For the next 24 years, Russian and American experts worked together to dismantle thousands of warheads and install tight security measures at scores of nuclear installations.
But the Kremlin confirmed this week that Russia had withdrawn from this program.
Today, Russia possesses about 700 tons of weapons-grade uranium, enough to make some 25,000 nuclear bombs. In addition, Russia has about 130 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, giving it the biggest hoard of military-related fissile material in the world.
The security of Russian nuclear sites is “not yet a source of immediate concern,” said Sutyagin. “But the overall trend is downwards.”The U.S. had planned to spend approximately $350 million on securing this stockpile in 2015. However, the Russian government has stated that it will no longer accept U.S. help.
Igor Sutyagin, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, described this decision as “inevitable” given the anti-American focus of Russian foreign policy.
“The good news is that with American assistance, the nuclear sites in Russia are stable and secure,” said Sutyagin. “The bad news is that the security systems were installed many years ago and they’re aging. Russia has the resources to replace them with less sophisticated systems.”
Handout/ ARMZThis
file photo from June 2010 from ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. shows a box of
"yellow cake," a concentrated powder of uranium. In 2009, the company
produced 4,624 tons of uranium in Russia and Kazakhstan.
No comments:
Post a Comment