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Russia Needs to Improve WMD Security, NATO Says
A NATO report issued today found that the international effort to secure Russia’s WMD arsenal has had significant successes, but that managing biological and tactical nuclear weapons needs greater attention (see GSN, Nov. 14). The report by Canadian Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, NATO general rapporteur, addresses security issues regarding Russia’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, along with export controls and redirection of scientists who conducted WMD work. While the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction has given submarine dismantlement and chemical weapons destruction ample attention, tactical nuclear weapons destruction requires increased monitoring and Russia must provide adequate assurances that it has fulfilled its commitment to completely eliminate its biological weapons arsenal, the report states. The international community, and especially the United States, has responded responsibly to the challenge of securing Russia’s WMD stockpile — the largest in the world — after the collapse of the Soviet Union with billions of dollars in aid, equipment and expertise, the report says. However, Russia remains reluctant to allow adequate monitoring of several WMD-related installations, according to the report. Nolin recommends greater involvement in the project by Russian officials and experts in order to elicit renewed cooperation from Moscow. The report also urges Moscow to grant tax exemptions and liability protections for WMD threat reduction programs. Russia’s financial contribution to the programs should also increase to reflect its economic growth, it adds. The report also recommends strengthening the role of the Senior Nonproliferation Officials Group and increasing the partnership’s membership to include particularly EU countries; accelerating destruction of nuclear weapons and related equipment; accelerating the pace of blending down of highly enriched uranium; and redoubling efforts to track the activities of former WMD scientists. Nonproliferation efforts should be expanded to additional countries and regions, the report states. The threat-reduction work would be aided by strengthening international agreements such as the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Proliferation Security Initiative, and by producing a fissile material cutoff treaty (NATO report, Dec. 16).
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