A Next Step in Nuclear Arms Control: Securing Fissile Materials

More than two million kilograms of separated plutonium and highly-enriched uranium—the fissile materials that lie at the heart of nuclear weapons—exist globally in assembled nuclear weapons and in material stockpiles. The nuclear security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in April 2010 focused attention on the need to enhance security standards to prevent these materials from falling into unauthorized hands. Since the summit, the international community has made some progress to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, but many nuclear security challenges remain. Is it possible to design a multilateral arrangement to control separated plutonium and highly-enriched uranium, one that would be comprehensive in scope, universal in membership and enforceable?

On June 28, the Arms Control Initiative at Brookings will host a discussion exploring the possibility of a nuclear control regime that would require that all fissile materials be securely held. Richard Burt, chairman of Global Zero, USA, and Jan Lodal, past president of the Atlantic Council, will discuss their proposal for such a regime. Joan Rohlfing, president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, will provide commentary. Brookings Senior Fellow Steven Pifer, director of the Arms Control Initiative, will moderate the discussion.

After the program, panelists will take questions from the audience.