Securing the Bomb


A series of reports focused on progress in locking down vulnerable nuclear materials

Challenge

A framework was needed to help discuss progress that has been made in securing nuclear material--and areas where more work is required

Action

The series of Securing the Bomb reports, first commissioned by NTI in 2001 and produced by Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom, focuses on progress in locking down vulnerable nuclear materials

Results

The NTI-commissioned reports won readership among journalists and policy experts, triggered legislation in Congress and helped frame the debate for political candidates

The NTI-commissioned reports won readership among journalists and policy experts, triggered legislation in Congress and helped frame the debate for political candidates. The comprehensive reports on nuclear materials security are researched and written under the leadership of Dr. Matthew Bunn at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

The 2010 report, released on the eve of the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit hosted by the White House, said that a faster, broader global effort is needed to meet the goal President Obama set in Prague to “secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” The report  also highlighted impressive progress: The U.S. has helped remove all HEU from nearly 50 facilities worldwide, and 19 countries have removed all weapons-usable nuclear material from their soil.

Still, the report cited 18 documented cases of theft or loss of plutonium or HEU, and it urged all countries to adopt clear and well-enforced rules on nuclear security that protect against a robust set of threats.

Senator Nunn said: “This report shows significant progress, but spells out clearly the required imperatives of a global effort. It makes clear that we need worldwide understanding of the threat, the scope and urgency of the essential work, as well as clear goals and accountability for progress.”

Securing the Bomb 2010:  Securing All Nuclear Materials in Four Years
Securing the Bomb 2008 
Securing the Bomb 2007
Securing the Bomb 2006
Securing the Bomb 2005
Securing the Bomb 2004

Activity

2010


2007


2006


2004


Securing the Bomb: An Agenda for Action

News

Securing the Bomb: An Agenda for Action

Programs to reduce this danger are making progress, but there remains a deadly gap between the urgency of threats and the pace to address it.

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