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Canada, U.S Foundation Sign Agreement to Aid Disposal of Russian Chemical Weapons By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — Canada and a private U.S. organization today signed an agreement to help move forward the destruction of Russia’s vast chemical weapons arsenal (see GSN, Feb. 3). Under the agreement, the Nuclear Threat Initiative will provide $1 million to support the construction of a chemical weapons disposal facility near the Russian town of Shchuchye. The site contains about 2 million munitions filled with nerve agents such as sarin and VX, enough “to kill everyone on the face of the Earth several times over,” said NTI Co-Chairman and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. Nunn and Canadian Ambassador to the United States Michael Kergin signed the agreement during a ceremony at the National Press Club. “These dangerous weapons need to be destroyed as quickly as possible, and I am pleased that we could partner with the Canadian government on this important project,” Nunn said in a statement. The NTI grant will be used to construct a railroad bridge over the Miass River, which will be part of an 11-mile rail line connecting the chemical weapons storage depot with the planned facility where the destruction will occur. Canada has agreed to provide $25 million for the construction of the rail line. “Canada is very pleased to join forces with the Nuclear Threat Initiative in the critical campaign to keep chemical weapons out of the hands of terrorists and those who would harbor them,” Kergin said in a statement. One of the main benefits of the planned railroad will be the secure transportation of the munitions from storage to the disposal plant, said Trevor Smith, senior program manager – chemical and biological weapons for Canada’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Department. “You can’t hijack a train,” he said. “From a security standpoint, it’s the only way to go.” The British Defense Ministry will manage the project under a bilateral British-Russian agreement. About 17 percent of Russia’s estimated 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapon agents are stored at Shchuchye. The Shchuchye facility is set to go into operation “no later” than 2008, said Russian Ambassador to the United States Yuri Ushakov. “Russia firmly upholds its commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention,” he said. Under the treaty Russia is obligated to completely destroy its chemical arsenal by 2012. Canada is helping to fund the Shchuchye project as part of its $810 million pledge to the Group of Eight Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Material of Mass Destruction — an effort launched in 2002 by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States to provide $20 billion over 10 years for nonproliferation projects. Canada also plans to supply an additional $10 million for several additional infrastructure-related projects at Shchuchye, including the construction of an access road, local warning system and intrasite communication lines. Today’s agreement is “innovative,” Paul Walker, director of the Legacy Program at Global Green USA, said after the signing. “I think it’s a great step forward,” he said. “The more cooks that stir the broth, the better.” The United States has agreed to fund most of the construction of the Shchuchye facility at a cost of about $1 billion. U.S. aid is provided through the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which seeks to secure and dispose of former Soviet weapons of mass destruction. In a separate statement released today, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) complained that conditions imposed by Congress both on aid provided through the CTR program and on chemical weapons destruction funding have delayed the Shchuchye project. He said he would reintroduce legislation tomorrow that would seek to eliminate such conditions. “The conditions require hundreds, if not thousands, of man hours each year to produce documentation related to the certification and waiver process for Shchuchye. Given the strong consensus that this program must go forward, this time might be better spent interdicting WMD shipments or identifying the next A.Q. Khan,” said Lugar, who also serves as co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer, and Richard Lugar serves on the board, 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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