Bunn on 10th Anniversary of Global Threat Reduction Initiative

By Matthew Bunn

I’ve got a new piece in The National Interest celebrating ten years of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), which has made remarkable strides in reducing the risks of nuclear and radiological terrorism.  They are the ones who did the actual work of getting the highly enriched uranium out of Ukraine before this year’s crises, to take just one example.

Unfortunately, the future is murky.  The Obama administration budget request would cut GTRI’s funding by 25 percent, slashing funding for nuclear materials removals in half – and funding the lowest rate of nuclear material removal (125 kilograms) in GTRI’s history.  Major political obstacles and technical challenges now stand in the way of the next phase of nuclear material removals and reactor conversions.   Congress should correct the Obama administration’s budget-cutting mistake and boost funding for GTRI, as both the House and Senate defense bills propose. 

Consolidating nuclear material to fewer locations makes it possible to achieve more security at less cost.  It’s a critical part of the nuclear security agenda, and it requires robust funding.  For more, see the consolidation section of this site, including our 2012 consolidation report.