by Kingston Reif [contact information] In his closing remarks at that the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands, President Obama 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 [on nuclear security].” The FY 2015 budget request […]
New Obama Budget Slashes Nonproliferation
by Kingston Reif “We know there is nearly 2,000 metric tons of this [nuclear] material spread across hundreds of sites in 25 countries, and we know much of it is not effectively secured. We know that terrorists would only need enough highly enriched uranium to fit into a 5-pound bag of sugar or an amount […]
Fact Sheet: U.S. Border Security and WMD TERRORISM PREVENTION PROJECT
In late August ABC news successfully shipped a 15 pound cylinder of depleted uranium from Jakarta, Indonesia to the United States through the Port of Los Angeles. The shipment has raised serious questions about the ability of customs officials to secure U.S. borders against weapons of mass destruction. Below are questions and answers on U.S. […]
Fact Sheet: The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)
By Sam Kane and Kingston Reif WHAT IS THE PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE (PSI)? • The Proliferation Security Initiative is an international effort that aims to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and their related components and materials. WHO IS INVOLVED WITH PSI? • Initially, PSI’s membership consisted of eleven countries (the […]
Fact Sheet: The 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT)
By Sam Kane and Kingston Reif What Are These Conventions? -CPPNM was opened for signatures in 1980, and entered into force in 1987. The original convention required signatory states to maintain adequate physical protection of nuclear materials in international transport. The 2005 amendment to CPPNM extended these physical protection standards to nuclear facilities and […]
