Non-Proliferation & Cooperative Threat ReductionKeeping Weapons of Mass Destruction Away From Terrorists With access to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – nuclear, chemical or biological – terrorists could kill untold numbers of people. Since 1991, U.S. government programs have targeted the greatest potential source of such weapons: the vast and largely unsecured stockpiles of the former Soviet Union. For less than a penny on the defense dollar, American programs secure and destroy those weapons, ensuring they can never fall into terrorist hands. But surprisingly, these cost-effective national security efforts struggle under bureaucratic restrictions and funding shortfalls that hold back their full potential. BENS works tirelessly to both highlight the “business sense” such programs make and to support business-style reforms that streamline and maximize their efforts. The Challenge: In Russia, the former Soviet states, and other countries around the world, poorly guarded nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and materials make inviting targets for theft by or diversion to terrorists. One site in Russia holds nearly 2 million shells and warheads, most man-portable, filled with lethal VX and sarin nerve agent; Soviet-era security had these weapons stored on wine racks in chicken coop-like structures, tracked only by clipboard records. Other locations, including research reactors across the globe, store enough nuclear material to build a weapon, often under less security than at your local bank. All are temping targets for terrorists, including al Qaeda, which has a stated interest in obtaining WMD and using them against the United States. The BENS Approach: In response to such dangers, BENS actively supports the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, one of America’s best front-line defenses against WMD terrorism. In addition to securing scores of weapons storage sites, CTR has deactivated or destroyed nearly 7000 nuclear warheads and hundreds of missiles, bombers, and submarines which once threatened the U.S. At an annual cost of roughly one-tenth of one percent of the Defense Department budget – and with over 80 percent of funds awarded to American contractors – CTR represents an excellent example of “good security on the cheap.” Similar programs in the Energy and State Departments, under the broader Nunn-Lugar “umbrella,” also secure and remove at-risk materials worldwide and enjoy BENS’ support.
BENS works with CTR and related projects in three areas (click links to read more): Business best practices. A key component of BENS’ support has been to give the business perspective on ways to streamline and improve CTR. In 2003, BENS successfully opposed broad legislative requirements that would have disrupted many key CTR programs - threatening both U.S. security and sizeable project investments. In subsequent years, BENS has continued to advance business-style reforms to cut through legislative red tape and bureaucratic waste and quicken the pace of CTR projects. BENS members also took to the op-ed pages of major newspapers in 2004 and 2005 to offer concrete suggestions on ways to apply business know-how to CTR and other nonproliferation programs.
Global WMD security and threat reduction. In addition to backing CTR’s crucial efforts within the former Soviet Union, BENS also works to enhance programs that protect and eliminate the deadliest weapons on a global basis. BENS backed the Energy Department’s creation of a “Global Threat Reduction Initiative” (GTRI) in 2004, aimed at securing at-risk fissile and radiological materials – the building blocks of nuclear and “dirty” bombs – around the world. BENS also supported Senator Lugar’s efforts to expand CTR’s reach beyond Soviet borders and has fought to remove a funding cap on such activities so that the program can meet any challenge, of any size, anywhere.
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