July 30, 2014

Harvard Report Criticizes Administration for Nonprolif. Cuts

By ExchangeMonitor

A new report released yesterday by Harvard University’s Belfer Center criticizes the Obama Administration for backing off its nuclear nonproliferation plans and calls on Congress to restore at least $100 million in nonproliferation cuts in Fiscal Year 2015. The report, “Cutting Too Deep: The Obama Administration’s Proposals for Nuclear Security Spending Reductions,” notes that the NNSA requested a $399 million cut to nonproliferation spending while boosting its funding request for the NNSA’s weapons program by $534 million.

The report suggests spreading the $100 million in restored cuts evenly between the International Material Protection and Cooperation program and the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, and continuing to boost nonproliferation funding in FY 2016. “The U.S. government should not allow nuclear security progress to be slowed by lack of funds,” the report said. “Given the immense consequences of a nuclear terrorist attack and the modest costs of nuclear security, the basic U.S. policy should be that no effort that shows promise of being able to make a significant and lasting reduction in the risk of nuclear terrorism should be delayed for lack of money.”

Also yesterday, a report by the Center for Public Integrity said the Administration ignored a May 2013 NNSA plan to increase nonproliferation activities in the wake of President Obama’s four-year goal to secure the most vulnerable nuclear material around the world. According to the report, the previously unreleased plan noted that two tons of highly enriched uranium remained in research reactors around the world, and worldwide stocks of plutonium were growing at a pace of 740 bombs’ worth of material a year. The report said the NNSA plan called the four-year effort a success but said there are “still serious threats that require urgent attention.”

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