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07 February 2005

Private U.S. Group, Canada Aid Effort to Destroy Russian Weapons

Railway project will aid destruction of nerve agent weapons

Washington -- A private U.S. arms control organization joined with the Canadian government February 7 to provide the funding needed to destroy almost two million Russian weapons armed with the lethal nerve agents Sarin, Soman and VX.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), classified as a public charity, agreed to provide $1 million to build a bridge across the Miass River in central Russia on an 11-mile rail spur.  The spur will connect a depot in Planovy, where the weapons are stored, to a facility in Shchuch’ye, where they will be destroyed.

The project will be managed by the United Kingdom, as part of its Russian assistance program, and will involve the close cooperation of the United States and Russian governments, according to an NTI press release.

Canada has committed up to $25 million for constructing the railway itself as part of its $1 billion pledge to the Group of Eight’s (G8) Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, created in 2002.  The G8 is composed of member nations Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Previously, Canada contributed over $4 million toward building the chemical weapons destruction facility.  It also developed an access road and helped to bring natural gas and electrical power lines to the site.

The United States is funding most of the construction of the Shchuch’ye plant, spending $1 billion through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

Sam Nunn, the former U.S. senator who co-authored the Nunn-Lugar legislation, is the chief executive officer of NTI, whose mission is to reduce the global threat presented by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

“The United States and Russia agreed years ago to destroy their chemical weapons, but this critical work has been delayed on both sides by technology disputes, bureaucratic roadblocks and a lack of funding,” he said.  “These dangerous weapons need to be destroyed as quickly as possible, and I am pleased that we could partner with the Canadian government on this important project.”

The Canadian ambassador to the United States, Michael Kergin, signed the agreement with NTI.  Keeping chemical weapons out of the hands of terrorists, he said “can only be countered by a true global partnership, where the resources and energies of many are combined.”

NTI has committed nearly $50 million to similar projects since its founding in 2001, but this is the first time it has been part of the G8 program.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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