Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 40, September - October 1999

Report Alleges Nuclear Assistance Funding Flaws

On September 24, the Associated Press released details of an internal Department of Energy (DOE) report concluding that a number of schemes designed to increase nuclear security and safety in Russia had been dogged by poor targeting, and in some cases even diversion of funds. According to the report, nearly a million dollars have been spent "to secure materials of little proliferation risk". In the overall assessment of the report's author, Inspector General Gregory Friedman, while the schemes have "accomplished much towards reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism... improvements are needed to ensure that funds and equipment are used for their intended purposes". The report claimed that some funds have simply been used to pay taxes in Russia - a phenomenon described on September 24 by the Energy Department's Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation, Rose Gottemoeller, as "part of the way we have to do business in Russia now".

Reports: Study - Russian aid problems arise, Associated Press, September 24; Russian nuclear aid problems cited, Associated Press, September 25.

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