Russian, U.S. Militaries to Conduct Nuclear Drill
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues....html#420BD170
Russia and the United States plan to conduct a joint security drill this year — the first time both country’s militaries will have worked together to prepare for the threat of nuclear terrorism, the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday (see GSN, May 23).
The field exercise is one component of increased nuclear security cooperation between the two countries, The Moscow Times reported. U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at the February 2005 Bratislava summit to boost security at Russian nuclear sites and to secure nuclear material in other countries.
The drill is expected to involve “a search for radioactive materials and the elimination of consequences resulting from a nuclear or radiological emergency,†the agency said, according to the Times.
“It’s the first time that the militaries of both countries will work together on ways to tackle the possible theft of nuclear materials and emergencies that might arise from nuclear terrorism,†said Alexander Pikayev, a nuclear expert in Moscow (Yuriy Humber, The Moscow Times, July 13).
U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Russian nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko have delivered the third update on efforts by a Senior Interagency Working Group to implement the Bratislava agreement, the Energy Department said yesterday.
“We have jointly agreed to maintain the aggressive timeline of prioritized repatriation of fresh and spent highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel and conversion of research reactors in third world countries,†Bodman said in a press release. “We will continue to implement the bilateral Joint Action Plans to improve the level of physical protection, control and accountability of nuclear weapons and materials stored at Russian Ministry of Defense and Rosatom facilities†(U.S. Energy Department release, July 12).
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