Combating the biggest threat to national security, namely the threat posed by nuclear terrorism- Kingston Reif, director, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

U.S. nuclear security experts blast cuts to anti-nuclear terror program: A prominent group of U.S. nuclear security experts is blasting a U.S. House plan to cut millions of U.S. dollars in funding for a program aimed at keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists. The Nuclear Fissile Working Group (FMWG), a non-governmental organization in nuclear security which comprises more than 60 nuclear security experts, castigated the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee bill to cut funding from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative. The group argued that the initiative helps reduce the threat of global terrorism by converting nuclear reactors worldwide to run on non-weapons grade low enriched uranium, instead of highly enriched uranium, which can be used to make bombs. The bill was passed last week, and the group is urging the Senate, where the bill is headed next, to restore full funding to the initiative. The House cut 120 million U.S. dollars from the initiative for fiscal 2012. Of that amount, 70 million dollars was for the conversion program. But 35 million U.S. dollars were then restored by an amendment. The cut came on the heels of a 123-million-dollar cut to the initiative in the final fiscal year 2011 resolution passed by Congress in April. Preventing terrorists from getting their hands on nukes is a major focus of the Nuclear Security Summit -- a bi-annual forum began last year by U.S. President Barack Obama in which dozens of world leaders gathered in Washington in a bid to better safeguard nuclear materials worldwide. More than 125 reactors around the globe still need to be converted, many of which are in Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and some with a history of lax security, according to the FMWG. The cuts also came at a time when U.S. lawmakers are under pressure to reduce spending in a bid to start lowering the country' s massive debt. "These cuts are pretty difficult to comprehend, given that the program is aimed at combating the biggest threat to national security, namely the threat posed by nuclear terrorism,"said Kingston Reif, director of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Matthew Bunn, an associate professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and FMWG member, said that funding for this program directly affects the pace at which highly enriched uranium can be removed from vulnerable sites. Ken Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security and FMWG co-chair, referred to the cuts as "irresponsible." The U.S. Congress, however, views the situation differently. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, in a statement, applauded the House for passing the bill. He said that the bill"is proof that we can make common-sense spending reductions without damaging or impairing the programs that help keep our country safe and our citizens at work." "While providing vital funding for programs that preserve our public safety, quality of life, economic competitiveness, energy independence and national defense, this bill abides by the promise that we would cut spending where we can to get our budgets back into balance and keep us on track toward economic recovery," Rogers said. The bill's authors argued against fully funding parts of a project in which, they believe, there are no guarantees. International cooperation is required to make progress on reactors'conversion from highly enriched uranium to non-weapons grade uranium. Language in the bill, however, said there has been "limited progress to convert or shut down a total of 71 Russian research reactors." Indeed, a framework should first be hammered out with Russia to find out how many reactors that country would consider converting, according to the bill. Kingston, however, said the Russian reactors are only part of the overall initiative. "The reality is that a very small percentage of the budget request for this ... program is aimed at the conversion of reactors in Russia," he said. "Russia is certainly a part of it, but it's not the only part, " he added. Courtesy:Xinhu a