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Presidential Initiatives

Bratislava Nuclear Security Initiative:  President Putin and President Bush agreed to pursue an initiative on nuclear security cooperation at a February 2005 summit in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.  This agreement includes for the first time a comprehensive joint action plan for the cooperation on security upgrades of Russian nuclear facilities at Rosatom and Ministry of Defense sites, and cooperation in the areas of nuclear regulatory development, sustainability, secure transportation, Materials Protection Control and Accounting (MPC&A) expertise, training, and protective force equipment.  A senior U.S.-Russia group chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the Director of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency off site link (Rosatom) oversees this work and provides regular progress reports to the Presidents every six months.  The Nuclear Security Initiative is focused on five key areas:

  1. Emergency Response Cooperation:  The U.S. is assisting Russia with training for nuclear emergency response personnel; the U.S. and Russia have extended for five years Agreement on the Exchange of Technical Information in the Field of Nuclear Warhead Safety and Security, and the U.S. is assisting Russia to secure all radioisotopic thermoelectric generators in Russia by 2015.
  2. Sharing Best Practices:  U.S. and Russian experts meet together and with experts from other nations with advanced nuclear programs to share information on improving security at nuclear facilities.
  3. Enhancing Nuclear Security Culture:  The Joint Nuclear Security Culture Enhancement Program has developed a number of strategies, including the use of nuclear security culture evaluation criteria at two Russian sites and two U.S. sites.  Efforts are underway to expand this program to a larger number of sites in Russia.
  4. Research Reactor Conversion:  The Department of Energy (DOE) and Rosatom provide low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel for use in any U.S. and Russian-designed research reactors in countries now using high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel, and are returning fresh and spent HEU fuel to its country of origin.
  5. Enhancing Nuclear Security: DOE and Rosatom developed a Joint Action Plan to accelerate security upgrades at Russian nuclear facilities, with the goal of completing all work identified at the time of the 2005 Bratislava summit by the end of 2008.  The Joint Action Plan has been amended to include additional work scope that was identified after the 2005 Bratislava summit (i.e., “post-Bratislava” scope), which will be completed in 2009 or 2010.


Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism: For more information, click here off site link.

Proliferation Security Initiative: For more information, click here off site link.

Reliable Fuel Supply:  In his speech off site link at the National Defense University in February 2004, President Bush called for closing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty “loophole” by restricting the spread of sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies and assuring reliable access to the commercial nuclear fuel market.

In September 2005, Secretary Bodman announced that to support the President’s policy the Department would set aside 17.4 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to be blended down into low enriched uranium (LEU) for use in a reserve.  This Reliable Fuel Supply (RFS) will be used only in case of a fuel supply emergency for eligible countries that meet certain nonproliferation criteria.  The Department of Energy awarded a commercial contract for the down-blending and storage of the resulting LEU in June 2007, and expects down-blending to be completed in 2010.

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP):  Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman announced a new, comprehensive strategy to promote the global expansion of nuclear energy.  This strategy, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership off site link (GNEP), will focus on developing new nuclear fuel cycle technologies that reduce waste and improve efficiency, enhancing safeguards and security to reduce proliferation risks, and developing international arrangements for reliable supply and management of nuclear fuel.

While GNEP is a long-term vision for the future of international nuclear power, NNSA uses ongoing activities in the areas of safeguards technology development, international safeguards cooperation, and fuel supply arrangements to support the policy aims embodied in GNEP.