The U.S. National Security Strategy, released in May 2010, said the following about nuclear security:
Advancing Top National Security Priorities
- The Administration has no greater responsibility than the safety and security of the American people. And there is no greater threat to the American people than weapons of mass destruction, particularly the danger posed by the pursuit of nuclear weapons by violent extremists and their proliferation to additional states. (p. 4)
- We are reducing our nuclear arsenal and reliance on nuclear weapons, while ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of our deterrent. We are strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the foundation of nonproliferation, while working through the NPT to hold nations like Iran and North Korea accountable for their failure to meet international obligations. We are leading a global effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials from terrorists. And we are pursing new strategies to protect against biological attacks and challenges to the cyber networks that we depend upon. (p. 4)
The Strategic Environment- The World as It Is
- The gravest danger to the American people and global security continues to come from weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons. (p. 8)
Security
- Instead of a hostile expansionist empire, we now face a diverse array of challenges, from a loose network of violent extremists to states that flout international norms or face internal collapse. (p. 17)
- Deny Terrorists Weapons of Mass Destruction: To prevent acts of terrorism with the world's most dangerous weapons, we are dramatically accelerating and intensifying efforts to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials by the end of 2013, and to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. We will also take actions to safeguard knowledge and capabilities in the life and chemical sciences that could be vulnerable to misuse. (p. 20)
Reverse the Spread of Nuclear and Biological Weapons and Secure Nuclear Materials
- The American people face no greater or more urgent danger than a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon. And international peace and security is threatened by proliferation that could lead to a nuclear exchange. Indeed, since the end of the Cold War, the risk of a nuclear attack has increased. Excessive Cold War stockpiles remain. More nations have acquired nuclear weapons. Testing has continued. Black market trade in nuclear secrets and materials. Terrorists are determined to buy, build, or steal a nuclear weapon. Our effort to contain these dangers are centered in a global nonproliferation regime that has frayed as more people and nations break the rules (p. 23)
- This is why reversing the spread of nuclear weapons is a top priority. Success depends upon broad consensus and concerted action, we will move forward strategically on a number of fronts through our example, our partnerships, and a reinvigorated international regime. The United States will:
- Pursue the Goal of a World Without Nuclear Weapons: While this goal will not be reached during this Administration, its active pursuit and eventual achievement will increase global security, keep our commitment under the NPT, build our cooperation with Russia and other states, and increase our credibility to hold others accountable for their obligations. As long as nuclear weapons exist, the United States will sustain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal, both to deter potential adversaries and to assure U.S. allies and other security partners that they can count on America's security commitments. But we have signed and seek to ratify a landmark New START Treaty with Russia to substantially limit our deployed nuclear warheads and strategic delivery vehicles, while assuring a comprehensive monitoring regime. We are reducing the role of nuclear weapons in our national security approach, extending a negative security assurance not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against those nonnuclear nations that are in compliance with the NPT and their nuclear nonproliferation obligations, and investing in the modernization of a safe, secure, and effective stockpile without the production of new nuclear weapons. We will pursue ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treat. And we will seek a new treaty that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials intended for use in nuclear weapons. (p. 23)
- Strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: The basic bargain of the NPT is sound: countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament; countries without nuclear weapons will forsake them; and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy. To strengthen the NPT, we will seek more resources and authority for international inspections. We will develop a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation. As members of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership have agreed, one important element of an enhanced framework could be cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management. We will pursue a broad, international consensus to insist that all nations need their obligations. And we will also pursue meaningful consequences for countries that fail to meet their obligations under the NPT or to meet the requirements for withdrawing from it. (p. 23)
- Present a Clear Choice to Iran and North Korea: The United States will pursue the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and work to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. This is not about singling out nations- it is about the responsibilities of all nations and the success of the nonproliferation regime. Both nations face a clear choice. If North Korea eliminates its nuclear weapons program, and Iran meets its international obligations on its nuclear program, they will be able to proceed on a path to greater political and economic integration with the international community. If they ignore their international obligations, we will pursue multiple means to increase their isolation and bring them into compliance with international nonproliferation norms. (pgs. 23 and 24)
- Secure Vulnerable Nuclear Weapons and Materials: The Global Nuclear Security Summit of 2010 rallied 47 nations behind the goal of securing all nuclear materials from terrorist groups. By the end of 2013, we will seek to complete a focused international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world through enhanced protection and accounting practices, expanded cooperation with and through international institutions, and new partnerships to lock down these sensitive materials. To detect and intercept nuclear materials in transit, and to stop the illicit trade in these technologies, we will work to turn programs such as the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism into durable international efforts. And we will sustain broad-based cooperation with other nations and international institutions to ensure the continued improvements necessary to protect nuclear materials from evolving threats. (p. 24)
- Support Peaceful Nuclear Energy: As countries move increasingly to tap peaceful nuclear energy to provide power generation while advancing climate goals, the world must develop an infrastructure in the countries that seek to use nuclear energy for their energy security needs and climate goals to ensure that nuclear energy is developed in a safe manner. We will do so by promoting safety through regulatory bodies and training of operators, promoting physical security to prevent terrorist acts, and assuring safe and secure handling of fuel at the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle. (p.24)
