Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

Department of Defense
2012 Nuclear Security Summit

The Department of Defense Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program collaborates with partner governments to account for, secure, and safeguard weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and WMD-related material. CTR’s strategic goal is to prevent state and non-state actors from proliferating WMD technologies, materials, and expertise, with the priority to secure WMD at the source.

The CTR Program is DoD’s primary mechanism to support all three tiers of the U.S. strategy to implement President Obama’s four-year nuclear security effort: site-, country-, and global-level cooperation. Highlighted below are CTR’s nuclear security accomplishments since the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit:

Site-Level Cooperation

• Through an unprecedented partnership with Russia and Kazakhstan, secured hundreds of kilograms of weapons-usable nuclear material at the former Soviet Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan.
• Supported transportation of 92 train loads of nuclear warheads from Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) operational locations to dismantlement facilities or more secure, consolidated storage sites.
• Supported transportation of spent nuclear fuel containing weapons-usable, highly enriched uranium, from two decommissioned Russian submarines to the Mayak fissile material disposition site.
• Supported security system maintenance at 23 nuclear weapons storage sites in Russia, and conducted site visits to confirm operational capability at four sites.
• Initiated expansion of nuclear weapons inventory management systems at 11 Russian MOD facilities.

Country-Level Cooperation

• Together with the Department of Energy, supporting the establishment of Nuclear Security Centers of Excellence by partner countries, through which the U.S. and its partners will be able to exchange nuclear security best practices, demonstrate equipment, and contribute to national and regional training programs.
• Expanded the CTR Program’s geographic reach to build the capacity of new partners and regions for the detection and interdiction of WMD and related materials in transit.
• Conducted 37 different nuclear security courses for the Russian MOD.
• Cooperating with the Russian MOD on a joint program to identify and assess next generation physical security technologies and processes.

Global-Level Cooperation

• Supporting the Nuclear Security Summit process.
• Participating in the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction and the Global Initiative to Supporting the IAEA Nuclear Security Support Centers Working Group.

The CTR Program is partnering with states in the former Soviet Union, Africa, and Asia. The President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2013 includes a $519.1 million request for the CTR Program; this includes $99.8 million for nuclear security cooperation and $32.4 million for proliferation prevention projects.