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Bush Seeks More Russian Access to U.S. Nuclear Sites By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday proposed providing Russia with increased access to U.S. nuclear storage sites to help improve overall nonproliferation efforts (see GSN, Dec. 14). Bush said there is a need to improve cooperation with Russia to secure stockpiles of nuclear materials — an issue of debate during this year’s U.S. presidential election campaign. “I think one of the things we need to do is to give the Russians equal access to our sites, our nuclear storage sites to see what works and what doesn’t work, to build confidence between our two governments,” Bush said in response to a question on U.S.-Russian relations during an end-of-the-year press conference. To address long-standing concerns about the vulnerability of Russian nuclear weapons and materials to theft or acts of terrorism, the United States conducts several programs to help improve security at nuclear sites. Such efforts have been hindered, however, by charges from both Washington and Moscow over lack of access to each other’s facilities. Last month, though, a high-level delegation from the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency visited several U.S. sites, including the Pantex nuclear weapons plant in Texas, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to an Energy Department official. The purpose of the visit was to discuss best practices for securing nuclear materials and to show Russian officials how such materials were protected at U.S. sites, the official said, adding that the Russian delegation was escorted during its visit. The U.S. official said the Russian visit was unrelated to Bush’s remarks yesterday. Nonproliferation advocates praised the president’s comments. “I applaud President Bush’s willingness to discuss Russia's reciprocal access to our nuclear sites,” said former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, who now heads the Nuclear Threat Initiative. “Both countries have a vital stake in working together to prevent catastrophic terrorism by keeping nuclear materials and weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Notwithstanding our inevitable differences, our mutual security depends on cooperation, and cooperation requires a much higher degree of reciprocity.” During his tenure in the Senate, Nunn was one of the architects of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which seeks to secure and dispose of former Soviet weapons of mass destruction. While the Bush administration “deserves some credit” for attempting to break the “logjam” surrounding the access issue, questions remain on how the White House would resolve the dispute and how such access would be provided, said William Hoehn of the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council. He said that access would likely have to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Bush’s remarks sent “a very important signal” to Moscow, indicating continued interest in pursuing nonproliferation cooperate despite recent tensions, such as those concerning the Ukrainian presidential election, said Rose Gottemoeller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In his remarks yesterday, Bush noted several disagreements that have arisen between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the U.S. decision to invade Iraq and recent moves by the Kremlin to increase its domestic political control. Even so, Bush praised the current standing of the U.S.-Russian relationship, which he described as “vital and important.” “Vladimir Putin and I have got a good personal relationship,” Bush said. “I intend to keep it that way. It’s important for Russia and the United States to have the kind of relationship where if we disagree with decisions, we can do so in a friendly and positive way.” According to reports, Bush and Putin are scheduled to meet in February in Slovakia. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. NTI is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.]
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