LLNL contributes to security upgrades in Russia

Leadership and technical support by LLNL employees has contributed to the successful completion of goals set forth in the Bratislava Nuclear Security Initiative.

On December 23, 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) delivered the Bratislava Nuclear Security Report to the White House, detailing the status of work agreed to in 2005 by Presidents Bush and Putin.

At a meeting held in Moscow last month, U.S. and Russian officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the U.S. Department of Defense, the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) reviewed the nuclear security upgrades completed in Russia under the Bratislava Nuclear Security Initiative. Building on this success, both countries agreed to continue to actively pursue additional presidential objectives.

"U.S. cooperation with Russia to reach the goals of the Bratislava Nuclear Security Initiative has made the world a safer place," said former Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. "I am proud of the work we have accomplished together, which has made an enormous contribution to global security. These efforts demonstrate our recognition of the grave threat posed by a terrorist’s acquisition of nuclear weapons and our determination to prevent this from happening."

The initiative was launched by then-Presidents Bush and Putin during their meeting in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, in February 2005. Both countries agreed to enhanced cooperation in five key areas: upgrading the security of nuclear facilities; expanding emergency response capabilities; enhancing the nuclear security culture; accelerating research reactor conversions and fuel returns; and sharing nuclear security best practices. Work on nuclear facility upgrades was accelerated and the upgrades were completed by the end of 2008, two years ahead of schedule.

The upgrades included in the initiative were representative of the vast majority of such work in Russia. Some additional cooperative work that was agreed to after 2005 will continue until 2012.

The LLNL Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) team, along with teams from other U.S. national laboratories, worked with their Russian counterparts to design and install improved MPC&A systems. Using a structured and graded approach, the teams identified and prioritized security upgrades based on the proliferation attractiveness of the nuclear material. Upgraded systems were installed for access control, intrusion detection, material monitoring, accounting and measurement, and communication and alarms. The systems function as an interconnected, multi-layered defensive network to effectively deter, detect, delay and, ultimately, deny unauthorized access to nuclear warheads and weapons-usable nuclear material. In addition to these security system upgrades, the United States and Russia are putting the necessary elements in place to ensure the long-term sustainability of the upgrades.

U.S.–Russian cooperation is continuing to fulfill Bratislava commitments for converting research reactors fueled with highly enriched uranium (HEU) to the use of low-enrichment uranium (LEU) and for the return of all Russian-origin HEU fresh and spent nuclear fuel stored outside research reactors to Russia by 2010.

To complement the physical security upgrades at Russian nuclear weapons storage sites, the United States also assisted the Russian Ministry of Defense in automating its nuclear weapons inventory management system and continues to work jointly to enhance the secure transportation of nuclear weapons from operational sites to dismantlement facilities and to centralized storage.

The following LLNL employees received certificates of accomplishment from NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation in recognition of their contributions to the Bratislava Nuclear Security Initiative: Bill Abramson, Rusty Babcock, Jeff Baker, Kathy Bertolini, Earl Chapman, Tim Horgan, John Kundert, Melinda Lane, Marty Loomis, Connie McAninch, Mike O’Brien, Steve Porter, Price Russ and Greg White.