May 6, 2014
By Douglas P. Guarino
Global Security Newswire
House Armed Services Committee Republicans are looking to block the Obama administration from continuing nuclear security work in Russia until the Ukraine crisis has been resolved.
Draft defense authorization bill language released on Monday would bar the use of fiscal 2015 funds by the Energy Department's nuclear security arm "for any contract, cooperation, or transfer of technology" between the United States and Russia, pending specific action by the administration.
For the release of funds, the Energy secretary, in consultation with secretaries of State and Defense, must certify to key congressional committees that "the Russian Federation is respecting the sovereignty of Ukrainian territory," according to the Republican draft bill.
Anne Harrington, the National Nuclear Security Administration's deputy for defense nuclear nonproliferation, told Global Security Newswire last month that U.S. nuclear security work in Russia had resumed, despite disagreements over Moscow's annexation of the Crimea region in Ukraine.
The work -- which includes upgrading the physical security of buildings where sensitive nuclear materials are stored -- had previously been suspended while the United States and Russia hashed out the details of how to implement a new agreement the two nations signed last year.
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