NNSA plans to work with Ukraine to equip 25 additional sites in the future.
Ukraine recently added a new radiation detection checkpoint to one of its vehicle border crossings through cooperation with a US-based program aimed at beefing up measures to thwart illicit trafficking in nuclear materials across porous borders around the world.
Installation of the new checkpoint at the Kurchurgan vehicle crossing on the Ukraine-Moldova border, which brings the total number of such checkpoints in Ukraine to five, was accomplished through the joint efforts of the Administration of the State Border Guard Service (ASBGS) and the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
NNSA plans to work with Ukraine to equip 25 additional sites in the future. A joint ceremony held at the crossing on May 21 was attended by American Ambassador William Taylor and representatives of the two cooperating agencies.
“Ukraine and the United States are working closely together to stop nuclear smuggling,” said NNSA’s Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Will Tobey in Washington DC.
“This partnership plays a critical role in the global fight against the illicit trafficking and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation as we work together to complete installation of the NNSA radiation detection equipment at the remaining sites in Ukraine,” he added.
The new checkpoint is part of the NNSA’s Second Line of Defense Program, an international initiative aimed at securing vulnerable land borders, seaports and airports from the illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials. Over 100 sites around the world have been installed with equipment through the program to date.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the possibility of illicit trafficking in the former super power’s massive collection of nuclear and radioactive materials was seen as a particular threat to world security.
In addition to a large number of nuclear production facilities, former Soviet states, and Russia in particular, inherited a large arsenal of nuclear warheads, numbering approximately 35,000 in 1991. That number has since been reduced to approximately 7,000.
Ukraine inherited an undisclosed number of nuclear weapons as well, but they have since been dismantled, transferred to Russia, or converted to non-military use.
