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U.S. Response II: Bush Nonproliferation Request Increase Mainly for Domestic Activities U.S. and Russian experts applauded U.S. President George W. Bush’s proposed 30 percent increase for fiscal 2004 nonproliferation funding, but lamented uneven program funding, the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council said today (see GSN, Jan. 29). “The overall budget increase seems impressive, but it is somewhat misleading. The major increase is to be spent in the United States, while key programs focused on Russian nuclear security have been cut below FY 2003 levels or held to minimal growth,” said Ken Luongo, RANSAC’s Executive Director (RANSAC release I, Jan. 30). Most of the budget increase — 84 percent, or $262 million — will go to disposing of U.S. fissile material, according to the council. The council nevertheless commended the proposed increase for nonproliferation funds, in particular a boost of almost $20 million to provide security for Russian nuclear material stockpiles. However, the organization criticized proposed cuts U.S.-Russian cooperative nuclear efforts. U.S. domestic plutonium disposal efforts are expected total $609 million, according to RANSAC. The Energy Department hopes to spend $47 million on Russian plutonium disposition, up $13 million from fiscal 2003. The administration also requested a 30 percent increase for international nuclear safeguard funding, up to more than $13 million from below $10 million in fiscal 2003. RANSAC also reported that the Energy Department is pushing the new Accelerated Materials Disposition effort, which will put about $30 million into four primary programs. The president requested the bulk of the money, $26 million, be used to buy and store Russian highly enriched uranium blended to low enriched uranium. Bush also asked that the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors program’s budget be increase by almost 30 percent, or up $2 million from $5.86 million. The program is working to phase out use of highly enriched uranium fuel in the former Soviet Union. The administration wants to put $1 million toward purchasing Russian highly enriched uranium. A final sum of $1 million will augment a fourth program: the materials conversion and consolidation effort in Russia, which already received a $4 million boost in the proposal. All told the project’s budget would be $32 million up from $27 million fiscal 2003, according to RANSAC. Within the budget request, the president wants to slightly cut funding for the Energy Department’s International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation program — from $227 million to $226 million — although the department asked for $262 toward that effort. Within the $226 million request, the budget for preventing the proliferation of radiological material was boosted from about $16 million to $36 million. The request includes $24 million for a new Materials Protection and Cooperation program that would cover nuclear warhead storage facilities in Russia. The council criticized cuts to some programs as “a short-sighted mistake.” The administration requested $38 million for cooperative programs with the Russian Navy, a cut of almost $18 million. Bush slashed the request for security work at Russian nuclear agency facilities by $14 million — to $34 million. The budget request for security work at Russian civilian nuclear sites is almost half of fiscal 2003 levels — the president asked for a cut from almost $22 million to $11 million — RANSAC reported. The request for the Second Line of Defense program, which aids border control efforts, remained level at $24 million. The request for funding of export control operations at the Energy Department dropped by $521,000, to just below $15 million. The Russian Transition Initiatives program, which includes efforts to reduce the size of the Russian nuclear weapons complex and find suitable work for Russian scientists involved in weapons efforts, remained flat. The budget request will be formally made public next week, according to RANSAC (RANSAC release II, Jan. 30).
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