
Des Browne
Vice Chair, NTI
A new op-ed by five former European defense ministers and high-ranking military officials highlights the vast quantity of weapons-usable materials in military programs worldwide and not subject to international oversight.
"Today, nearly 2,000 metric tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium are stored in hundreds of facilities in 25 countries, much of it poorly secured," they write. "Despite this risk, astonishingly, there is no effective international system for how these materials should be secured."
Of that 2,000 metric tons of material, 85 percent is within the military or non-civilian sectior and not subject to the limited guidelines that do exist.
"Many assume that military materials must be held to a higher security standard than civil nuclear materials," they write. "Our real world experience suggests the contrary—as does the record of recent incidents."
The op-ed is written by Paul Quilès, former French Minister of Defence, NTI board member Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP, former UK Foreign & Defence Secretary, NTI Vice Chairman Des Browne, former UK Defence Secretary, Bernard Norlain, former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force, and Hervé Morin, former French Minister of Defence.
They urge worlds leaders at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit to build an effective nuclear security system that covers ALL materials, including those under military control.
Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on nuclear and biological threats.
As the war in Ukraine continues, destroying cities and causing the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe in a generation, NTI’s policy experts are fanning out across the news media to discuss the implications of Putin’s actions
NTI hosted Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, White House Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, and four other government leaders for a public event about this critical step for strengthening global security.
The CNS Global Incidents and Trafficking Database found more than 350 incidents of nuclear and radioactive material outside of regulatory control in 2020 and 2021.