Washington, April 21: Asserting that the world is more threatened now than it was ever during the Cold War, a senior US official has said not only terrorist outfits are looking for nuclear know-how, but today many more countries are seeking atomic weapons than 15 years ago.
“We have terrorist groups and organised crime and other bad actors that are looking to require nuclear technology, nuclear know-how and nuclear material.
“And secondarily, we have more states looking to acquire nuclear weapons than we have had in the last 15 years,” Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, said yesterday.
Briefing foreign journalists on Obama Administration’s non-proliferation agenda, Tauscher said US President Barack Obama supports the Senate ratification and entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
“We have no specific timeline for its consideration by the Senate, but we are doing all the analysis necessary to determine how to best move the treaty forward. We expect the release of the National Academies of Science study reviewing the key technical issues underlying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to be released shortly,” she said.
Tauscher urged the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations as soon as possible on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.
“We know that an agreement will not be reached quickly. But we believe that we must make progress to ban the production of additional material to be used in nuclear weapons.”
She conceded that spreading of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat to US citizens, but the government is taking concrete steps to neutralise it.
Referring to the recently signed new START treaty between the US and Russia that reduces the nuclear stock piles of the two countries, she argued that it enhances America’s national security by establishing lower verifiable limits on strategic nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles deployed by both sides.
“It maintains an effective verification regime appropriate to the obligations in the treaty. It does this while allowing us to retain the nuclear force levels we need to protect our country and our allies.”
The treaty furthers the goal of resetting US’ relationship with Russia and reinvigorates the arms control process.
“This treaty shows that the United States and Russia can work together on issues of mutual interest, including top priorities like nuclear security and non-proliferation,” she said.
Referring to the upcoming Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in New York next month, Tauscher said “We are serious about doing our part to revitalise the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation regime, and we are working with others to achieve that goal as well.”
–Agencies