REDUCING THE NUCLEAR THREAT

”The United States will retain as long as necessary an arsenal of nuclear forces to deter any future hostile action by any regime that has nuclear weapons. But I will also continue to pursue the most ambitious agenda to dismantle and fight the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction since the dawn of the nuclear age. ”

President Clinton
United States Air Force Academy Commencement,May 31, 1995

President Clinton has moved aggressively to reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons to all Americans. Over the past three years, the Administration has made unprecedented progress in curbing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and reducing the dangerous legacy of Cold War weapons’ stockpiles.

A RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT:

• President Clinton’s agreement with Russian President Yeltsin in January 1994 to detarget strategic missiles has assured that, for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, no Russian missiles are targeted on Americans.

• The April 1996 Moscow Summit on Nuclear Safety and Security, attended by President Clinton and other major world leaders, agreed on ways to improve the safety of civilian nuclear reactors, and the management of nuclear wastes, as well as combat the threat posed by illicit trafficking in nuclear materials.

• The U.S. and Russia are well ahead of the missile reduction schedule mandated by the START I Treaty, which entered into force in December 1994. Since 1993, approximately 3,800 former Soviet nuclear warheads have been removed from the strategic inventory and 900 long-range missiles and bombers have been dismantled, thanks in large measure to the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

• The U.S. has ratified the START II Treaty. When ratified by Russia, START II (in combination with the START I Treaty which we entered into force in December 1994) will eliminate bombers and missiles that carried over 14,000 Russian and American nuclear warheads.

• U.S. diplomacy played a critical role in securing the indefinite and unconditional extension of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty--the cornerstone of our efforts to control nuclear proliferation.

• North Korea’s nuclear program has been frozen and is to be dismantled under the U.S.-DPRK Agreed Framework, under monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

• President Clinton’s August 1995 decision to negotiate a true zero yield Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has brought within reach the forty-year goal of banning nuclear testing forever. The eight heads of state attending the April 1996 Moscow Summit affirmed their commitment to conclude and sign a CTBT by September 1996.

• The U.S. persuaded Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakstan to return the former Soviet nuclear weapons on their soil to Russia and to forswear nuclear weapons forever.

• Through the Nunn-Lugar program, the U.S. is helping Russia and the New Independent States transport, safeguard and destroy their nuclear weapons and build national systems to secure and safeguard weapons-usable fissile material.

• The U.S. is engaged in unprecedented programs of cooperation with a number of countries, including Russia, Kazakstan, Belarus and Ukraine, to improve the security of nuclear materials and protect them from theft or diversion. In Russia alone, this program of cooperation is helping to protect many tons of weapons-useable nuclear material at more than two dozen locations.

• Customs Service and the FBI have placed the prevention of illicit nuclear trafficking among their top investigative priorities. U.S. law enforcement officials are engaged in training and liaison activities with countries across eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

• In Operation Sapphire, we airlifted nearly 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium -- enough for dozens of bombs -- from Kazakstan for safe disposition in the United States.

• Since 1993, the U.S. has provided $500 million for Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction efforts.

• Since 1993, approximately 3,800 former Soviet nuclear warheads have been removed from inventory and 900 long-range missiles and bombers have been dismantled, thanks in large measure to the Cooperative Threat reduction program.

• Since 1995, enough highly-enriched uranium for over 350 nuclear weapons has been blended down to low-enriched uranium and shipped to the United States for use as fuel in commercial nuclear reactors, generating electricity to serve American consumers.

THE CHALLENGES AHEAD:

While the overall threat of nuclear weapons to the United States and the world has declined, nuclear weapons remain one of our most important national security concerns. This requires that we:

• Continue efforts to reduce the nuclear threat, including Russian ratification and entry-into-force of START II.

• Continue to work with Russia and other states for the conclusion and signature of the CTBT by September.

• Continue implementing the Agreed Framework to eliminate North Korea’s dangerous nuclear facilities, including through increased international support for the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), the multilateral body responsible for this effort.

Last Update: April 30, 1996