Dear Mr. President:
We write to express our serious concern about the FY 2015 budget request for vital nuclear material security and nonproliferation programs. These cuts are difficult to understand since the danger of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists remains high.
In your closing remarks last month at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands, you rightly stated that despite the progress made over the past four years, “it is important for us not to relax, but rather accelerate our efforts…[and] sustain momentum.” The FY 2015 budget request is out of sync with these objectives.
We urge you to work with Congress to significantly increase funding for core nuclear security activities during the FY 2015 authorization and appropriations process.
We applaud your leadership in spearheading an accelerated international effort to enhance the security of nuclear and radiological materials. Significant progress has been made safeguarding nuclear materials and through the nuclear security summit process. Thirteen countries eliminated all the highly enriched uranium (HEU) or separated plutonium on their soil. All of the locations in non-nuclear-weapon states where there was enough high-quality HEU for the simplest type of terrorist nuclear bomb were either eliminated or had significant security improvements.
Despite these noteworthy achievements, significant work remains to be done. There are still hundreds of sites spread across 30 countries that have weapons-usable nuclear material. Over 120 research and isotope production reactors around the world still use HEU for fuel or targets. Many of these locations have very modest or insufficient security measures.
The FY 2015 budget request for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reduces funding for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and the International Nuclear Materials Protection Program (IMPC) by 25% and 27%, respectively. This is the third year in a row of budget cuts to these core nonproliferation programs. The fiscal 2015 request is nearly $1 billion less for GTRI and the IMPC programs than the funding level projected by your administration three years ago. In addition, the request for the Pentagon slashes funding for the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CTR) by 27%.
Reducing funding for these programs increases the amount of time it will take to secure or eliminate dangerous materials that could be used by terrorists in an improvised nuclear explosive device or a dirty bomb.
For example, the NNSA request delays the goal of converting or shutting down a total of 200 research reactors that still use HEU by an additional five years to 2035. The previous end date to secure 8,500 buildings with radioactive material has already been delayed to 2044 and now may be further postponed. The construction of fixed site radiation detectors under the second line of defense program will be reduced from 25 to 15 and work in the Middle East and Africa is not moving forward. Programs to improve the nuclear accounting, control, and security culture in Russia are reduced “to fund other NNSA priorities.” Other previously planned work in the removal of nuclear and radiological material will be “deferred to future years.”
In testimony before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee in April, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz expressed his “disappointment” with the cuts to nonproliferation and attributed them to the tough budget environment and the decision to prioritize NNSA’s nuclear weapons programs.
We understand that the budget environment is difficult. We also understand that some major projects funded in previous years have been completed. Moreover, Moscow’s unwillingness to renew the old CTR umbrella agreement has reduced the amount of work we can do in Russia.
However, the FY 2015 budget request signals a major retreat in the effort to secure nuclear and radiological materials. Nonproliferation programs must be a top priority and their work is too important to be a bill payer for other activities.
We encourage you to work with Congress to ensure that these programs have the resources they need to secure nuclear and radiological materials as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
John Adams, Brig General (USA Ret.)
Guardians Six Consulting LLC
Bruce Amundson, MD
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
Kennette Benedict
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Peter Bergel
Oregon PeaceWorks
Kim Bergier
Co-coordinator Michigan Stop The Nuclear Bombs Campaign
Harry C. Blaney III
Center for international Policy
Barry M. Blechman
Stimson Center
Roger R Blunt, P.E., Major General (USA Ret.)
Carol Blythe
Alliance of Baptists
Jack Boureston
FirstWatch International
John Bradshaw
National Security Network
Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill
Former Ambassador to the IAEA
Matthew Bunn
Harvard University
Dan Caldwell
Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Pepperdine University
John Castellaw, Lt. General (USMC Ret.)
Sr. Patricia Chappell
Pax Christi USA
Jay Coghlan
Nuclear Watch New Mexico
Tom Z. Collina
Arms Control Association
David Culp
Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)
Susan Cundiff
Oregon WAND
Peter Davies
Founding President, InterAction
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat
SIPRI North America
Marie Dennis
Pax Christi International
The Honorable Byron Dorgan
United States Senator (North Dakota)
Ambassador Ralph Earle II
Former Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Jenefer Ellingston
National Green Party
Erica Fein
Women’s Action for New Directions
Charles D. Ferguson, Ph.D.
Federation of American Scientists
The Honorable Donald Fraser
Former Member of Congress (Minnesota)
Ambassador Peter W Galbraith
Former Ambassador to Croatia
Robert G. Gard, Jr., Lt. General (USA, Ret.)
Richard L. Garwin
National Medal of Science Awardee
Alicia Godsberg
Peace Action, New York State
Debbie Goolsby
President, Arkansas Women’s Action for New Directions
Jean Gordon
Founder, Arkansas Women’s Action for New Directions
Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr.
Former Special Representative of the President for Arms Control, NonProliferation and Disarmament
Lisbeth Gronlund
Union of Concerned Scientists
B. Welling Hall
Earlham College
Howard L. Hall
The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, University of Tennessee
Mark W. Harrison
United Methodist General Board of Church and Society
William D. Hartung
Center for International Policy
Katie Heald
Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World
Ira Helfand, MD
Past President, Physicians for Social Responsibility
John Holum
Former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
John Isaacs
Council for a Livable World
Arlen D. Jameson, Lt. General (USAF Ret.)
Joni Jenkins
Kentucky State Representative
John H. Johns, Brig General (USA Ret.)
Fern Katz
Michigan WAND
David Kay
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
Catherine M. Kelleher
University of Maryland, College Park
Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
The Honorable Mike Kopetski
Former Member of Congress (Oregon)
Don Kraus
GlobalSolutions.org
Ira Lechner
Council for a Livable World
The Honorable Jan M. Lodal
The Atlantic Council of the United States
Ben Loehrke
Ploughshares Fund
Marie Lucey, OSF
Franciscan Action Network
Kenneth Luongo
Partnership for Global Security
Bruce W. MacDonald
Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies
Jenifer Mackby
Former Senior Political Affairs Officer, United Nations
Paul Kawika Martin
Peace Action
Mary Lou Marzian
Kentucky State Representative
Matthew McKinzie, Ph.D.
Natural Resources Defense Council
Mark Medish
Former Senior Director, National Security Council and US Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary
Gary Milhollin
Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control
JoAnne Mills
Arkansas Women’s Action for New Directions
Thomas C. Moore
Independent consultant
Clark Murdock
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Tammy Murphy
Project for Nuclear Awareness
Robert K. Musil
The Rachel Carson Council
Dr. Janne E. Nolan
The George Washington University
Robert Nurick
Atlantic Council
Michael O’Hanlon
Senior Fellow at Brookings
Nan Grogan Orrock
Georgia State Senator
Sandy Pappas
MN State Senator & Senate President
Miles Pomper
Monterey Institute for International Studies
Becky Rafter
Georgia WAND
Jon Rainwater
Peace Action West
Diane Randall
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Kingston Reif
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Richard Rhodes
Author
Eric Sapp
American Values Network
Deb Sawyer
Utah Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (UCAN)
Lawrence Scheinman
Former Assistant Director, Nonproliferation and Regional Arms Control (Arms Control and Disarmament Agency)
Andrew K. Semmel
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (2003-2007)
Ashish Sinha
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
William K. Smith, MD
Physicians Against Land Mines
Ambassador Nancy Soderberg
Former US Representative for Special Political Affairs at the US Mission to UN
David C. Speedie
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
Guy Stevens
PeacePAC
Mimi Stewart
New Mexico House of Representatives
Charleta Tavares
Ohio State Senator
Catherine Thomasson, MD
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Rev. Robert W. Tiller
Retired clergyperson
William Tobey
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Alexandra Toma
Fissile Materials Working Group
Paul F. Walker, Ph.D.
Green Cross International
Harry Wang, MD
President, Physicians for Social Responsibility/Sacramento
Gerald F. Warburg
Professor of Public Policy, UVA
Peter Wilk, MD
Physicians for Social Responsibility Maine
*Organizations listed for identification purposes only
**Individuals listed in bold are or have been affiliated with Council for a Livable World or Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Boards of Directors, National Advisory Boards or staffs.
