[ RadSafe ] US Inspections of Russia's Nuclear Facilities to Start Before December

[Gerry Blackwood]

US Inspections of Russia's Nuclear Facilities to Start Before December

   RIA Novosti 
   2/28/2005 



At the end of last week the official website of the Russian president (www.kremlin.ru) posted the text of a joint Russian-American statement on cooperation in nuclear security, which was signed on Thursday in Bratislava by Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush. It looks as if Moscow has agreed to American inspections of all key Russian nuclear facilities, including military ones, writes Kommersant. 

The penultimate paragraph of the document, which is present in the Russian version but not on the White House site, is the most interesting. It says that by the end of 2008 all work to upgrade security systems on facilities run by Rosatom and the Defense Ministry of Russia will be finished, and "by July 1, 2005 the Defense Ministry of Russia will determine all the remaining facilities that need improved security systems" and "visits" to these facilities operated by Rosatom and by 12 GU MO (12th main directorate of the Defense Ministry in charge of all Russian nuclear arsenals) will start before December 2005. 

Responsibility for inspections has been vested in the joint commission for nuclear security, headed by Rosatom head Alexander Rumyantsev and US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. 

"The work to implement the Defense Ministry instructions is already under way," said a source in the Russian military establishment. 

It is not clear, however, why the last but one paragraph cannot be found on the White House site. Perhaps Washington has found it better not to publicize Russia's agreement to allow American inspectors to its nuclear facilities, since that might put the Kremlin in an awkward position. 

The Russian leadership probably decided to do a deal. Moscow made a concession on the principled issue of nuclear control in Bratislava in a bid to settle other problems to its advantage. Above all, this meant the second-priority issue for the US - democracy in Russia. Mr. Bush refrained from harshly criticizing Mr. Putin and said that he believed in Russia's democratic development.