Bush to Propose New Nuclear Nonproliferation Measures Today

U.S. President George W. Bush is expected this afternoon to propose new measures to prevent nuclear proliferation, including one that would block the transfer of nuclear components to countries not already capable of producing nuclear fuel, a senior Bush administration official said (see GSN, Jan. 26).

In a speech set to be presented this afternoon at the National Defense University, Bush was expected to describe U.S. efforts to track and breakup an international nuclear black market recently exposed by the confession of top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Bush will also use the speech to outline his new nuclear nonproliferation strategy, according to the Washington Post. 

One proposal expected to be included in the speech is a call to countries to refuse to provide nuclear components to those nations currently lacking enrichment and reprocessing facilities. Such a proposal, though, would go against the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which allows treaty parties to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, according to the Post.

Bush is also set to propose that countries seeking nuclear fuel be able to purchase it in a “reliable and cost-effective way,” instead of producing it themselves, which will help prevent countries from developing nuclear weapons programs under the guise of a civilian nuclear effort, the senior Bush administration official said (Peter Slevin, Washington Post, Feb. 11).

Bush’s proposal would also be a rejection of a measure put forward by International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei to place the production of nuclear fuel under international control, according to the New York Times.

In his speech today, Bush is also expected to propose changes to the operations of the IAEA, such as the creation of an agency committee to monitor compliance with IAEA safeguards agreements, the senior administration official said. Bush is also expected to call on the IAEA to bar from its board of governors countries under investigation, the Times reported (David Sanger, New York Times, Feb. 11).

The Bush administration did not consult with the IAEA while preparing the president’s speech, according to the Washington Post. “Quite frankly, some of these proposals will be unsettling to some,” the senior Bush administration official said, adding that ElBaradei would be briefed ahead of Bush’s speech.

In addition, Bush will also use his speech to call for an expansion to both the membership and mission of the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led international effort designed to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo, the senior official said.

“We need very aggressive law enforcement,” the official said. “We need to seize material.  We need to seize assets. We need to prosecute those who are participating in this criminal behavior,” the official added (Slevin, Washington Post).

Bush will propose expanding the Cooperative Threat Reduction program to help fund efforts to retrain former WMD scientists in countries outside the former Soviet Union, the senior administration official said. According to the New York Times, though, Bush will not propose an increase in CTR funding, nor is an expansion of the program included in the administration’s fiscal 2005 budget proposal (see related GSN story, today; Sanger, New York Times).

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