Congress established the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CRT) in 1991 so that the United States could assist the former Soviet Republics with the safe and secure transportation, storage and elimination of nuclear weapons. The CRT program seeks to reduce the threat these weapons pose to the United States and to reduce the proliferation risks from nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union. Congress has authorised and appropriated around USD300-USD400 million each year for CTR. have questioned whether all of the proposed and ongoing projects contribute to US national security. Some have questioned Russia's commitment, both political and financial to some of the projects. This book reviews many of the concerns that have been raised in Congress during debates over CTR. It also provides a summary of the funding for different CTR projects and presents an analysis of CTR and its structure and impact. Contents: Preface; Overview of the CTR Program; Evolving Rationale, Program Implementation, Focus of the CTR Programs, Value of U.S. Assistance under CTR, Scope of the CTR Programs, Russia's Financial Commitment to CTR Programs, Linkage between U.S. Assistance and Russian Policies. Subject Index.

The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program has since authorized more than $1.5 billion for a wide array of weapons destruction, demilitarization, nuclear security, and nonproliferation activities in the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union.

One of the greatest challenges to both national and international security stems from the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons. In 1991, Senators Sam Nunn (D-GA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) authored and advocated the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act after the breakup of the Soviet Union (creating what is now commonly referred to as Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction [CTR] program). The program currently receives funding of over $1 billion a year for cooperative activities to secure and eliminate weapons of mass destruction and related materials and technologies in the former Soviet Union. The Nunn–Lugar CTR program can rightly be called the Marshall Plan of nuclear nonproliferation. It was one of the primary instruments available to the United States for dealing with the dangerous situation resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Problems still exist, however, with regard to the safe and secure storage and handling of nuclear materials in Russia. Substantial resources from the United States and other nations will continue to be needed to eliminate these potential threats in the future. However, the mutual dedication to problem solving that has, at the best of times, characterized the Nunn–Lugar program is now missing. As a result, secondary issues and other priorities have prevented further progress from being made. The early stages of the Nunn–Lugar program, understandably, were marked by suspicion and a lack of trust on both sides—attitudes that hindered progress and slowed implementation of agreed-on measures. Further complicating the situation was that the breakup of the Soviet Union also meant the breakup of the unified control system that facilitated expeditious execution of directives from above. The Yeltsin government was notorious for unfulfilled commitments, and as a result, those working the various programs found that agreed-on procedures often had to be renegotiated at each intervening level of the bureaucracy before they could be put into effect. Even such seemingly simple issues as whether taxes had to be paid on materials provided free of charge under CTR continue to cause problems to this day. To the credit of both sides, in previous years, when a problem was encountered, efforts were made to come up with workable solutions, rather than allowing the process to fall into a series of mutual recriminations. In spite of this record, the program has become bogged down in recent years over issues such as liability for damages and other essentially secondary matters. In terms of nuclear weapons, some 6,382 nuclear warheads have been deactivated under CTR. These include all armaments from the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, where the weapons' status and security came into serious question after the breakup of the Soviet Union. More than 1,400 delivery systems, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, submarines, and strategic bombers have been decommissioned or destroyed. In terms of materials that could be used to create weapons, over 200 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) has been eliminated. Security in transport and storage, and accountability of both weapons and weapon materials, has been enhanced. Finally, more than 22,000 scientists formerly employed in weapons programs (chemical and biological included) have been shifted to cooperative, peaceful endeavors. In sum, the world is a safer place today because of the efforts of the Nunn–Lugar program.

Congress established the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CTR) in 1991 so that the United States could assist the former Soviet republics with the safe and secure transportation, storage, and elimination of nuclear weapons. The CTR program seeks to reduce the threat these weapons pose to the United States and to reduce the proliferation risks from nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union. Congress has authorized and appropriated around $300-$400 million each year for CTR. Most in Congress support the core objectives of the CTR program, but some have questioned whether all of the proposed and ongoing projects contribute to U.S. national security. Some have also questioned Russia's commitment, both political and financial to the some of the projects. This report reviews many of the concerns that have been raised in Congress during debates over CTR. It also provides a summary of the funding for different CTR projects. It will be updated at least once each year.

This Congressionally-mandated report identifies areas for further cooperation with Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program of the Department of Defense in the specific area of prevention of proliferation of biological weapons. The report reviews relevant U.S. government programs, and particularly the CTR program, and identifies approaches for overcoming obstacles to cooperation and for increasing the long-term impact of the program. It recommends strong support for continuation of the CTR program.