ACCESSION NUMBER:00000

FILE ID:95102304.TXT

DATE:10/23/95

TITLE:23-10-95  CLINTON, YELTSIN ENDORSE EFFORTS ON NUCLEAR SECURITY



TEXT:

(Texts: Joint statement, fact sheet) (820)



Hyde Park, New York -- President Clinton and Russian President Boris

Yeltsin October 23 underscored their "strong support for the efforts

underway" in the United States and Russia to ensure the security of

nuclear weapons.



In a joint statement issued following their meeting at Hyde Park, the

presidents "noted with satisfaction that bilateral and multilateral

cooperation in these areas has grown rapidly over the past year and

includes joint activities on law enforcement, customs, intelligence

liaison and on-the-ground cooperation to improve nuclear materials

security at ten sites, protecting tons of nuclear material."



The presidents also endorsed "speedy implementation" of plans outlined

by the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission for bilateral cooperation in

connection with the dismantlement of nuclear weapons and the storage

of fissile material from dismantled weapons.



Following are the texts of the joint statement and a White House fact

sheet on nuclear materials security:



(begin text joint statement)



Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin noted the importance they attach to

ensuring the security of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials,

maintaining effective control over them, and combating illegal

trafficking in nuclear materials. They underscored their strong

support for the efforts underway in the Russian Federation and the

United States to achieve these objectives, including the rapidly

growing range of cooperative activities being pursued jointly by U.S.

and Russian experts. The presidents noted with satisfaction that

bilateral and multilateral cooperation in these areas has grown

rapidly over the past year and includes joint activities on law

enforcement, customs, intelligence liaison and on-the-ground

cooperation to improve nuclear materials security at ten sites,

protecting tons of nuclear material. The presidents also welcomed

cooperative efforts to improve the security of nuclear weapons in

transport or storage in connection with their dismantlement.



The two presidents welcomed the joint report on steps that have been

accomplished and additional steps that should be taken to ensure the

security of nuclear materials, prepared by the Gore-Chernomyrdin

Commission in implementation of the May 10 summit declaration on

nonproliferation. This report outlines current and planned

U.S.-Russian programs of bilateral cooperation that will result in

broad improvements in nuclear materials security, including several

important sites with weapons-usable nuclear material, increased

security for nuclear weapons in connection with their dismantlement,

and construction of a safe and secure long-term storage facility for

fissile material from dismantled weapons. The presidents endorsed

speedy implementation of these plans and directed that they be

expanded and accelerated to the greatest extent possible.



(end text joint statement)



(begin text fact sheet)



Following their meeting in Hyde Park, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin

issued a joint statement noting the importance they attach to ensuring

the security of nuclear weapons and materials and welcoming the joint

report they received from the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission discussing

how the United States and Russia can work together to strengthen

security for nuclear material. This report follows up on the

presidents' May 10 summit statement on nonproliferation.



Joint cooperative efforts to bolster security and accounting for

nuclear material made significant advances in Russia in 1995,

including:



-- expanding cooperation from a handful of facilities to more than a

dozen, enhancing the safety and security of tons of nuclear material;



-- creating a new material protection, control and accounting training

center at Obninsk;



-- improving national-level oversight of nuclear material security,

including regulations, licensing and inspections;



-- creating nuclear material protection, control and accounting

systems at four facilities -- Elektrostal (a nuclear fuel plant),

Arzamas-16 (a nuclear weapons laboratory), Kurchatov and Obninsk

(nuclear research centers) -- to serve as models for such systems at

other facilities; and



-- accelerating direct cooperation between U.S. and Russian nuclear

labs to improve nuclear materials security.



For 1996, the United States and Russia have agreed to expand their

cooperation as follows:



-- expansion of intergovernmental cooperation to five of the largest

civilian sites handling weapons-usable material in Russia, located in

Dmitrovgrad, Obninsk, Podolsk, Mayak and Elektrostal;



-- expansion of direct lab-to-lab cooperation to additional key

facilities including labs at Chelyabinsk-70, Krasnoyarsk-26 and

Sverdlovsk-44;



-- further development of the Obninsk training facility; and



-- additional training, technical assistance and equipment to improve

Russia's national material control and accounting system.



These projects will draw on the $30 million in Nunn-Lugar funds and

$17 million in lab-to-lab funds currently available. The

administration has requested an additional $70 million in nuclear

material security funds from Congress for these projects in FY 1996.



The United States, using $140 million in Nunn-Lugar funds, has been

cooperating with Russia on the design and construction of a safe,

secure and ecologically-sound storage facility for fissile material

from dismantled nuclear weapons. Another $32 million in Nunn-Lugar

funds is being spent to enhance security in the transportation and

storage of the increasing numbers of nuclear weapons destined for

dismantlement.



(end text fact sheet)

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