Nuclear Nonproliferation: Comprehensive U.S. Planning and Better Foreign Cooperation Needed to Secure Vulnerable Nuclear Materials Worldwide

            In April of 2009, President Obama and his administration announced an international initiative to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide within 4 years. In its report the Government Accountability Office assessed the United States efforts to implement the President’s 4 year global nuclear material security initiative; the status and challenges, if any, of NNSA's nuclear security programs in Russia; and, the NNSA efforts to secure nuclear materials in countries other than Russia. The report found that NSC officials have approved a government wide strategy for the President's 4-year global nuclear material security initiative that describes the scope and objectives of the interagency effort and identifies the main efforts by U.S. agencies and programs to support the initiative. However, this interagency strategy lacks specific details concerning how the initiative will be implemented, including the identity of vulnerable foreign nuclear material sites and facilities to be addressed, agencies and programs responsible for addressing each site, planned activities at each location, potential challenges and strategies for overcoming those obstacles, anticipated timelines, and cost estimates. Overall, the GAO recommended to Congress to amend a law which would give more time for this process to occur. Also, the GAO recommended to President Obama and the National Security Council to provide a clear sense of the overall scope of work anticipated under the President's initiative to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide within 4 years, the NSC should lead and coordinate through NNSA, DOD, State, and other relevant agencies, including members of the intelligence community, the development of a comprehensive plan for implementing the initiative.

Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-227