March 17, 2014

NEW INDEX TAKES AIM AT UNSECURED NUCLEAR MATERIAL

By ExchangeMonitor

Too much of the weapons-usable nuclear material around the world remains poorly secured, according to a new index released yesterday by the Nuclear Threat Initiative that ranks 32 countries on their commitment to nuclear security. The Nuclear Materials Security Index predictably singles out Iran, Pakistan and North Korea as having the worst commitment to nuclear security, and recognizes Australia, Hungary and the Czech Republic at the top of its list. The index’s compilers accounted for a variety of factors in coming up with the list, including the amount of nuclear material possessed by a country, physical security, adherence to international treaties, and political stability and potential for corruption. “It’s not a piece of cake for terrorists and we don’t want to pretend that it is, but it’s far from impossible and nuclear material security is the number one defense we have to prevent nuclear terrorism,” said former Sen. Sam Nunn, one of NTI’s chairmen.

The United States graded out well in categories measuring security and political stability, but was hurt by its large quantities of nuclear weapons and weapons sites and for not ratifying the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, ranking 13th—tied with Belgium. “Encouragingly, one of our key findings is governments have become far more aware of the threat and the need for urgent action to combat it,” said Deepti Choubey, NTI’s Senior Director for Nuclear and Bio-Security. But she noted the index also highlights that much more work is necessary, and that there needs to be more international agreement on how to tackle the problem. “Our hope is that the NTI index is a starting point for framing the breadth of the problem,” she said.

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