USE OF FORCE AND ARMS CONTROL: United States, Russia Conclude New Agreement on Plutonium Disposal

摘要

In April 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed a protocol on disposition of the large amounts of plutonium resulting from the decommissioning of nuclear weapons. The protocol amends a previous agreement signed in 2000, which has been stalled by technical disagreements and financial shortcomings. Because of the time required to build the required facilities, actual disposition of plutonium will not begin until 2018. A substantial excerpt from a Department of State press release describing the protocol follows.