CIAO DATE: 09/2009
June 2009
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Andrew Newman and Matthew Bunn's new analysis assesses the Obama administration's fiscal year 2010 budget request for programs to improve controls over nuclear weapons, materials, and expertise worldwide. The authors write: "In Washington, it is often said that budgets are policy. The fact that the entire budget for all programs to prevent nuclear terrorism comes to less than one quarter of one percent of the defense budget makes a clear statement about whether this effort is really a top priority of the U.S. government—and makes clear that the U.S. government could easily afford to do more, if more effort is needed. Some nuclear nonproliferation programs could move more quickly to seize risk reduction opportunities that already exist if their budgets were increased—and substantially increased funds will inevitably be needed to implement a faster and broader effort if the other obstacles can be overcome.
Resource link: Funding for U.S. Efforts to Improve Controls Over Nuclear Weapons, Materials, and Expertise Overseas: A 2009 Update [PDF] - 1.7M