Securing Nuclear Material: The Way Forward

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

A CNP Conversation With Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham

February 28, 2006

Summary

Members of Congress participating in CNP’s MacArthur Foundation-funded Nuclear Security Study Group met with CNP President Tim Roemer and former U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham at the U.S. Capitol on February 28th. The participants, who are on the key committees in the House of Representatives charged with nuclear security, discussed the challenges of securing nuclear material and strengthening efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation. This summary seeks to capture the general sense of that discussion.

Event Highlights

A Real Threat

CNP President Tim Roemer set the tone for the meeting by quoting from sections of the 9/11 Commission Report, which make clear that it is a long-term goal of al-Qaeda to gain the capacity to use radiological and nuclear weapons. Roemer reminded the gathering that al-Qaeda has stated its interest in creating a “Hiroshima-type event” in the United States. Secretary Abraham discussed the likelihood and potential scenarios in which a radiological device could be used by terrorists to cause mass disruption in the United States and overseas. “If there is a more important issue than keeping nuclear weapons and materials out of the hands of terrorists, I want to know what it is,” said one Congressman.

The Global Threat Reduction Initiative

Secretary Abraham stressed the importance of securing nuclear materials and facilities that are currently scattered across the globe at dozens of relatively insecure locations. Abraham noted that one legacy of the Cold War is that both superpowers provided nuclear research reactors to over 40 nations from Nigeria to Uzbekistan to the Congo. The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) was developed by Secretary Abraham and authorized by Congress to address the very issue of how to secure these far-flung and potentially vulnerable nuclear facilities and materials.

GTRI continues to work with governments on the return of spent nuclear fuel to secure sites in Russia for storage and on the conversion of research reactors from those which produce weapons grade highly enriched uranium to the more benign low enriched uranium. In the meeting, members expressed a desire to increase the pace of GTRI's activities. A consensus emerged that if there are limits to the pace at which GTRI can proceed regardless of resources provided, then efforts should be made to train more experts who are capable of securing nuclear material and converting research reactors from the problematic HEU design to the more benign LEU.

Iran

“How do we deal with Iran?” was a question posed to Secretary Abraham by one member of Congress. The former Energy Secretary answered, “If the Iranians develop an enrichment capability, they are at the five yard line as far as getting a weapon.” Skepticism was voiced about the stated non-military intentions of the Iranian nuclear program, and some doubts were raised about any future deal negotiated by the international community that would continue to allow advanced nuclear processing inside Iran.

Strengthening International Cooperation

There was consensus around the idea that to meet the challenge of sustaining the current nuclear non-proliferation regime, there is a need for an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with “teeth”. Secretary Abraham suggested that the current Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) system was not working properly as nations are permitted to take steps all the way up to actual assembly of a nuclear device and still be considered to be within international law. Discussion centered on how to encourage the nations of the G-8 to take a greater leadership role in nuclear security issues and potential solutions such as “regional distributors” so that member states of the NPT could enjoy the benefits of nuclear power without having to process fuel on their own soil, thus limiting the potential for proliferation.

The Role of Congress

While the Executive Branch executes nuclear security programs, Secretary Abraham spoke of the importance of Congress in the effort to keep nuclear weapons out of the wrong hands. Secretary Abraham stressed the importance of delivering strong and consistent messages to Russian counterparts at all levels on the importance of nuclear security to the United States. The need to focus Congressional attention on the Russian relationship is due to the primary importance of Russia for assistance in securing nuclear material globally as well as their own stockpile, which is in the range of hundreds of tons.

In particular, conversation revolved around how Congress might use letters to the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and to the Russian ambassador to the U.N. in order to address issues such as the need for President Putin to agree to the resolution of the liability issue which threatens to halt Nunn-Lugar programmatic co-operation. Members agreed that it would be important to ensure that any Congressional delegations traveling to Russia should deliver a strong and unified message on the importance of nuclear security to the U.S.-Russian relationship.

The Importance of Bi-Partisanship

There was consensus in the group about the importance taking of a bi-partisan approach to nuclear security. “The key to long term success of this effort is not to point the finger,” commented one member of Congress. “Good work has been done, good work is being done, more work needs to be done,” was a statement that all participants agreed upon in describing U.S. efforts to secure nuclear facilities and materials over the past decade.

Members expressed the need to have a specific agenda, for example three to five points, that can be provided to their colleagues as being of paramount importance for Congressional action on nuclear security. They also said that much more work needs to be done to educate their colleagues in Congress on nuclear security issues, colleagues who have limited time and dozens of other pressing issues before them every day. As one Congressman said, "we have to change the dynamic with members and make them care even more about these issues.”

The Way Forward

Looking ahead, there was some discussion about the need for a “new 9/11-type commission” that could focus attention and generate a sense of urgency on the need to keep nuclear materials out of the wrong hands. Concern was raised that upcoming Congressional elections may diminish opportunities for new initiatives on nuclear security. All agreed that ways must be found to place nuclear security issues prominently on the agenda for presidential candidates in the 2008 election.

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