Security of nuclear materials is a cornerstone of global efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and terrorism and has been a core part of NTI’s mission since its inception. NTI co-chairman and CEO, former Senator Sam Nunn, was one of the co-architects of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which has helped to secure nuclear materials and weapons in the former Soviet states since the end of the Cold War.  Building on his leadership, NTI has helped to reduce the risk posed by vulnerable weapons-usable nuclear materials through efforts like Project Vinca and the removal of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from a poorly secured reactor in Kazakhstan. 

Today, NTI is working to exert leverage on governments and others to more effectively secure nuclear materials. Current priorities include:

The NTI Nuclear Materials Security Index: While the 2010 and 2012 Nuclear Security Summits have been instrumental in raising awareness and initiating action, it is critical to keep attention on this issue between summits and beyond. To do this, NTI, working with the Economist Intelligence Unit, created the NTI Index to assess nuclear materials security conditions on a country-by-country basis. Since its release in early 2012, the NTI Index has been praised for promoting a global dialogue on priorities for nuclear materials security, highlighting the need for a comprehensive framework and identifying specific actions needed to improve materials security around the world. NTI anticipates releasing the second edition of the NTI Index in 2013, in advance of the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit.

Strengthening U.S.-Russian Cooperation:  To test and improve readiness to respond to a nuclear smuggling incident, NTI gathered former high-level national security officials from Russia and the United States in Moscow to address how our joint response—if tested now by a real threat—could prevent an attack. The group found significant, but removable, barriers to sharing information effectively and taking action.  NTI published a report featuring the group’s key lessons and recommendations in both English and Russian.

Subsequently, the U.S. and Russian governments invited NTI to facilitate a similar official exercise with government officials. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ public statement noted that, “This event was part of the wider ongoing work with our American partners to strengthen the security of nuclear materials.” 

In a related effort, NTI, working with U.S. and Russian experts, has developed an action plan for U.S.-Russian nuclear materials security cooperation in other countries, with a focus on Southeast Asia. 

Nuclear Materials Security in Asia: Given the importance of the Asia-Pacific region, NTI is beginning to develop cooperative programs in Asia with an initial emphasis on China. The project seeks to promote U.S.-Chinese mutual understanding and cooperation on a range of important nuclear security topics. As a first step, NTI is sponsoring an international nuclear security meeting in Beijing that will bring together 100 experts from China and around the world to consider a range of nuclear security topics.

Over the last two decades, extensive progress has been made in securing and consolidating nuclear materials and reducing the use of highly-enriched uranium (HEU). NTI is working to maintain this momentum and identify new cooperative programs to improve nuclear materials security.

For more information about the program, contact Page Stoutland, 202-296-4810 or by e-mail.