Funding for U.S. Efforts to Improve Controls Over Nuclear Weapons, Materials, and Expertise Overseas: A 2009 Update

June 30, 2009
By Andrew Newman and Matthew Bunn

Andrew Newman and Matthew Bunn's new analysis assesses the Obama administration's fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget request for programs to improve controls over nuclear weapons, materials, and expertise worldwide. The request is a "steady as you go" budget. Because the Obama administration has not yet completed a plan for achieving the President's objective of securing all vulnerable nuclear material worldwide within four years, the budget did not include the funding that would be needed to implement such a plan.

To address this deficiency and make it possible to seize high-priority nuclear security opportunities as they arise, the authors recommend that Congress and the administration work together to establish a $500 million contingency fund that could be used flexibly on a range of nuclear security programs.

On June 16, the House Armed Services Committee authorized (H.R. 2647) an additional $403 million for programs focused on securing nuclear material — $224 million for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and $179 million for the International Nuclear Material Protection and Cooperation Program. If appropriated, this would go a substantial part of the way toward resolving the deficiency our analysis identifies. It is now up to the administration and Congress to exert the leadership required to turn this authorization proposal into appropriated funds that can actually be spent to improve security for nuclear stockpiles around the world. The effort keep nuclear weapons and materials out of terrorist hands should never be slowed by lack of available funds.

This budget analysis is part of the "Securing the Bomb" project, funded by the Nuclear Threat Initiative. For the full text of our previous reports, dozens of additional analyses, and an on-line threat reduction budget database, go to: http://www.nti.org/securingthebomb

Last year's annual report, Securing the Bomb 2008, can be accessed here (PDF).

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