The Obama Administration is requesting $365.1 million in Fiscal Year 2015 for the Department of Defense’s Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction account, a $135.4 million reduction from FY 2014 funding levels that likely reflects a slow-down in nuclear security work in Russia. Funding for Nunn-Lugar work has remained relatively steady in recent years, with $446.2 million provided in FY 2013, but the expiration of the CTR umbrella agreement with Russia a year ago—and the creation of a new agreement—slowed all nuclear security and nonproliferation work in Russia, National Nuclear Security Administration nonproliferation chief Anne Harrington said last week. Requested funding for the NNSA’s nonproliferation account also dipped in FY 2015, down to $1.55 billion, a cut of $398.4 million from FY 2014 enacted levels. As contracts under the CTR umbrella agreement were renegotiated, some physical upgrades at Russian facilities have had to be put on hold, Harrington said, and the current situation between the U.S. and Ukraine make the situation even more uncertain.
OBAMA ADMIN. REQUESTING $365.1 M FOR PENTAGON CTR PROGRAM
NNSA removes high-risk cesium from Vermont
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has removed all high-risk cesium-137 from Vermont, making it the 15th U.S. state or territory declared free of high-risk quantities of the radioactive material. This follows a July operation in which a team from Idaho National Laboratory removed a self-shielded cesium irradiator from the University of Vermont in Burlington […]