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Next Generation Nuclear Security Summit - April 12-13, 2010
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fissile materials working group

The Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), a nongovernmental coalition of over 40 U.S. experts representing many of the top nonproliferation and nuclear security organizations in the country and also includes several international partner organizations.  Members of the FMWG collaborate in a series of meetings designed to create consensus behind top fissile materials priorities, develop actionable policy proposals, and package recommendations for implementation by U.S. and foreign government officials.

The FMWG has been a forceful presence in support of improved fissile material security and the prevention of nuclear terrorism.  Important milestones for the FMWG include the publication of its consensus recommendations to the Obama Administration for improving nuclear material security (September 2009); the convening of a summit of international experts and supporting events in support of the official Nuclear Security Summit (April 2010); and a series of regional meetings to explore international perspectives on nuclear security (October 2010 - April 2011).  These activities highlight the urgency of this agenda and engage a broad array of international stakeholders.  Please click here for a summary of the FMWG's acitivites to date.  To view the FMWG's condensed work plan, please click here.

Media Contact:
Sean Harder
sharder@stanleyfoundation.org
319-455-6397


The Steering Committee is comprised of the following professionals:

  • Kenneth N. Luongo, President, Partnership for Global Security (co-chair)
  • Alexandra Toma, Executive Director, Connect U.S. Fund (co-chair)
  • Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project, Harvard University
  • Togzhan Kassenova, Associate, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • Miles Pomper, Senior Research Associate, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
  • Jennifer Smyser, Program Officer, Policy and Outreach, The Stanley Foundation
  • Sharon Squassoni, Director and Senior Fellow, Proliferation Prevention Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Benn Tannenbaum, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Paul Walker, Director, Security & Sustainability, Global Green USA
     

Key Staff:

Ryan Costello
FMWG Coordinator
202-721-5600 x. 5724
 

Michelle Marchesano
mmarchesano@partnershipforglobalsecurity.org
202-332-1412

NYT Op-ed: House Slashes US Defenses Against Nuclear Terrorism
Jul28
Posted by Ryan Costello
Release Date: 
07-25-11

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a strongly worded New York Times op-ed, a former ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency and a former advisor to the US Secretary of Energy warn that pending cuts to key nonproliferation programs will leave America vulnerable to a nuclear terrorist attack.

The U.S. Senate should restore $85 million that the U.S. House recently cut from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, a program aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism, write Kenneth C. Brill, president of the Fund for Peace, and Kenneth N. Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security.

"Beltway budget battles always produce a lot of game-playing," the co-authors write. "But protecting America’s security is not a political game. The programs the House has cut are proven, effective and prudent national security investments to prevent nuclear terrorism and its devastating consequences. Slashing America’s best defense against nuclear terror will not make us safer or richer. In fact, it could invite the opposite result."

The cuts mark the second time in six months that lawmakers have cut programs aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism. These programs have removed several tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium from countries that otherwise might have been unable to prevent the material from falling into the hands of terrorists.

"The House budget cuts come on top of the unprecedented 14 percent reductions made to those programs in the current federal budget. By comparison, from 2001 through 2010, Congress cut the budget by a cumulative total of slightly less than 1 percent," Brill and Luongo write.

Brill and Luongo are both members of the Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), a coalition of more than 60 leading experts and non-governmental organizations in nuclear security formed to support and help implement the goal of securing all vulnerable fissile materials as quickly as possible.

For interviews with either Brill or Luongo, contact Sean Harder at 319-455-6397.

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