Construction of a Russian chemical weapons disposal plant located near the city of Shchuchye could come to a halt if the U.S. Defense Department does not receive congressional approval to provide more funding, USA Today reported today (see GSN, Aug. 23).

The Pentagon plans to begin canceling Shchuchye construction contracts this month because it has run out of funds for the project today, the start of fiscal 2003, officials said.   The Pentagon has requested $126 million for construction at Shchuchye.  To maintain the project, it needs at least $35 million in funding blocked by Congress, according to USA Today.

“If we don’t get this money, we’re going to have to start taking down the (contracting) teams we’ve assembled,” said Thomas Kuenning, chief of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (see GSN, April 3).

Congress approved the $35 million for the Shchuchye project in its fiscal 2002 budget, but legislators set certain conditions that are blocking the Pentagon from using the funds.  The conditions include six criteria, such as providing an inventory of its chemical weapons stockpile, that Russia must meet before funds are released (see GSN, March 20).

Opponents of the Shchuchye project “are using these criteria as a stick to hit the Russians,” said Michael Moodie, president of the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute in Washington.  “Their feeling is, ‘If we’re going to have these assistance programs, we’re going to make it as hard as we can for the Russians.’”

The Bush administration has asked Congress for the authority to overturn the criteria, USA Today reported (see GSN, Aug. 1).  Congress might approve a limited short-term waiver this year, Representative Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said.

“A blanket waiver removes some of the leverage we have to make sure Russia complies with the intended purposes for these funds,” Thornberry said (see GSN, July 19).  “The bigger issue is how big is the problem and if we spend this much money, how much of a dent will it make?”

Waiver opponents have said Russia has not provided an accurate account of its chemical weapons arsenal and has not provided the United States with enough access to chemical weapons sites.  Nuclear Threat Initiative Chief Executive Officer Sam Nunn has said, however, that waiver opponents have misplaced their focus.

“They want a confession, and what we need is a solution,” Nunn said, adding Russia has shown “good faith” so far in its chemical weapons disposal program.

Russian officials have said the hold on promised U.S. funds is unnecessary.  Russia has increased its own contribution to its chemical weapons disposal program and has replaced ineffective military managers with civilians, they said.

“We are fulfilling all of our obligations,” said Nikolai Plate, of the Russian State Commission on Chemical Disarmament.  “The U.S. promised this money, and they should give it to us and come see that we will use it to destroy the weapons” (Peter Eisler, USA Today, Oct. 1).

[EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group, Inc.]

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