What Policymakers Are Saying
“A nuclear terror attack anywhere in the world would be a significant challenge to the maintenance of global peace and security, as well as to the protection of Canadian values, human dignity and free and open societies.
The threat of nuclear terrorism is one of the greatest national security threats that we have. And our nation must make real progress towards securing stockpiles of fissionable material. [President Obama’s] budget request seems to send the wrong signal to the rest of the world. Given the instability of the world, not just between Ukraine and Russia, but increasing the budget for things like the Global Threat Reduction Initiative would be a wise investment. Instead, this request proposes to reduce this program by 25 percent. And I would note that this is a program which has removed 234 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium – enough for nine nuclear weapons from Ukrainian soil – eliminating the risk of this material falling into the wrong hands.”
“Two weeks ago, President Obama stated that what kept him up at night was, quote, ‘The prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan,’ unquote. However, the budget request makes nuclear weapons and naval reactor programs the highest priority at the expense of nonproliferation […] activities. This is hard for me to understand – why we would cut programs to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists especially when Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups have repeatedly shown interest in acquiring weapons-grade material. What I see are additional cuts to well-managed programs that have made this country safer from nuclear terrorism at the expense of increased funding for poorly-managed nuclear weapons programs.”
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water, (2014)
“While much was accomplished under the four-year effort, serious threats still remain. Significant stockpiles of HEU still exist in too many places and global inventories of plutonium are steadily rising. FY 2015 priority efforts include the removal of an additional 125 kilograms of HEU and plutonium from high priority countries; the protection of an additional 105 buildings with high-activity radioactive sources; the consolidation of all category I/II material into a new high security zone at a nuclear material site in Russia; preventing illicit trafficking by closing key gaps in the radiation detection architecture; and the initiation of new nuclear security activities in the Middle East.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water (2014)
“Looking into the future, we need to inject lasting momentum into the nuclear security process, put it on a sustainable track with a proper mechanism, and gradually set up a fair, cooperative and win-win international nuclear security system.”
Acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces (2014)
“Looking into the future, we need to inject lasting momentum into the nuclear security process, put it on a sustainable track, with a proper mechanism, and gradually set up a fair, cooperative and win-win international nuclear security system.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping (2014)
“We simply cannot wait for such a catastrophe to happen before we act. We must be ahead and stay ahead of the threat.”
King Abdullah of Jordan, during a working dinner held by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima duirng the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague
“The international nuclear security environment is constantly changing. With its broad mandate and technical capabilities, and the support of 162 member states, the Agency is well placed to continue playing the central role in helping the world to act in unison against the threat of nuclear terrorism.”
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano at the 2014 IAEA General Conference in Vienna.