The Expanded Threat Reduction Initiative (ETRI) began as a call in US President Bill Clinton's 1999 State of the Union Address for expanding cooperation with Russia, Ukraine, and other Newly Independent States (NIS) in the area of safeguarding weapons of mass destruction technologies and materials.[1] ETRI was intended to be a coordinated multi-agency effort, incorporating the US Department of Defense's (DOD) Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, as well as Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of State non-proliferation and nuclear safety assistance programs to the NIS.

The Administration requested $974 million for ETRI  for FY 2001, including $469 million for programs administered by the DOD, $364 million for DOE programs, and $141 million for US State Department-supported non-proliferation and safety programs, such as the International Science and Technology Center.[2] The program, if implemented in accordance with Clinton Administration requests, would cost approximately $4.5 billion over a six-year period.[1]  Of these funds, $2.8 billion would be allocated toward DOD's CTR program through FY 2005.[3]

ETRI objectives included:

• Enhancing the safety, security, control, and accounting of nuclear warheads while in transport and in storage at Russian nuclear weapons storage facilities;
• Accelerating the destruction of Russian missiles, bombers, and ballistic missile submarines to help Russia implement START I and subsequent strategic arms control treaties;
• Ending Russia's production of weapons-grade plutonium;
• Constructing a fissile material storage facility at Mayak for safe and secure storage of fissile material from up to 12,500 dismantled nuclear warheads;
• Accelerating the dismantlement of Russia's nuclear weapons;
• Tightening export controls;
• Supporting civilian research opportunities for up to 40,000 former Soviet weapons scientists;
• Completing the work on a chemical weapons destruction facility and eliminating former biological and chemical weapons facilities;
• Assisting Russia in implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention by helping it eliminate its chemical weapons stockpiles;
• Facilitating Russian troop withdrawals from Georgia and Moldova.[1,3]

After Clinton left office, the programs that made up ETRI once again became run on a departmental basis, without an overarching interagency coordinator.  While coordination of many programs has improved since that time, as of 2005 the General Accounting Office continued to find some coordination problems in the implementation of certain U.S. assistance programs.  (See the January 2005 GAO Report "Weapons of Mass Destruction:  Nonproliferation Programs Need Better Integration.")

Sources:
[1] "Fact Sheet: The President's International Affairs Budget," The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 16 August 1999.
[2] "Text: Clinton Says U.S. Must Continue International Engagement," Office of International Information Programs, US Department of State, 7 February 2000.
[3] "Testimony of Dr. Edward L. Warner, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction, Before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities," www.senate.gov/~armed_services/hearings/1999/e990323.htm, 23 March 1999. [Entered 7/19/00 MJ] 

Page last updated 4 February 2005

Comments or questions? Contact Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: Cristina.ChuenATmiis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.

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