By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
March 16, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration plans deep
cuts in programs aimed at helping Russia safeguard its
nuclear materials even though a recent high-level
commission called the program essential to national
security.
A proposed budget for fiscal 2002, now being put
together by the administration, would cut spending for
Russian nuclear nonproliferation activities from $872
million to $800 million, government and private sources
said Thursday.
The cuts were ordered by the White House despite
several attempts by Energy Secretary Spence Abraham to
obtain more money for a program widely supported by
nonproliferation advocates, said these sources, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Energy Department originally had hoped for a
substantial increase in financial support for the
program. A Clinton administration draft proposed more
than $1.2 billion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1,
the sources said.
In January, a bipartisan, private commission called
the risk of theft of Russian nuclear materials ``the
most urgent unmet national security threat'' facing the
United States and urged sharp increases in spending.
The Energy Department initiatives targeted by budget
cutters include programs aimed at reinforcing security
at Russian nuclear weapons facilities, providing help to
economically strapped Russian nuclear scientists and
helping Russia convert weapons-grade plutonium to
less-threatening materials.
While changes may still be made in the funding levels
before President Bush sends Congress his detailed budget
proposals for fiscal year 2002, several attempts by the
department to get additional money already have been
rebuffed by the Office of Management and Budget, the
sources said.
`This budget signals a retreat from a decade's worth
of work with Russia to secure nuclear weapons expertise
and materials,'' said William Hoehn of the Russian
American Nuclear Security Advisory Council, a
nonproliferation advocacy group.
According to the latest DOE budget document, programs
to increase security at Russian nuclear facilities would
be cut by $31 million to about $170 million. The Energy
Department sought an increase to $225 million.
The government's Russia ``nuclear cities'' program,
aimed at finding jobs and getting economic aid to
Russian nuclear scientists, would be cut by $20 million
to about $7 million, the sources said.
Bush will ask for more money to dispose of Russia's
excess plutonium stocks, but the amount falls far short
of the proposed doubling of the $226 million program
that the Clinton administration proposed, the sources
said.
Reports of the budget cuts brought a sharp response
Thursday from Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., a member of
the House Armed Services Committee.
`Dramatic cuts to these programs ... may cripple our
efforts to secure nuclear material in Russia and ensure
that Russia's nuclear physicists are gainfully employed
in nondefense-related industries,'' Tauscher wrote
Mitchell Daniels, director of the Office of Management
and Budget.
In January, a top-level, bipartisan commission issued
a report recommending top priority and sharply increased
on the Russian nonproliferation assistance programs. The
panel said the risks of Russian nuclear materials being
obtained by terrorists or unfriendly smaller states is
significant and real.
The report urged spending of $30 billion over 10
years to help Russia keep its nuclear materials and
atomic scientists out of the hands of rogue states or
terrorists. Such spending would be a prudent investment
in world security, the commission concluded in a report
sent to the Energy Department and White House.
The panel was co-chaired by former GOP Senate
Majority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee and Lloyd
Cutler, a White House counsel for former President
Clinton. The commission also included former Democratic
Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia and former Rep. Lee Hamilton,
D-Ind., both widely respected experts on
nonproliferation and national security.
Related Links:
Office of Management and Budget:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/index.html
