In April 2009, President Obama outlined an ambitious agenda to secure vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years, calling the danger of a terrorist acquiring nuclear weapons "the most immediate and extreme threat to global security."  In this year's State of the Union, he called the threat of nuclear weapons, "the greatest danger to the American people."  In order to meet that challenge, the President's FY2011 Budget Request includes close to $2.7 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration's Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation program -- and increase of 25.7 percent over FY2010.

Included in that request is NNSA's Second Line of Defense (SLD) program, which works around the world to strengthen the capability of foreign governments to deter, detect, and interdict illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials across international borders and through the global maritime shipping system.  The goal is to reduce the probability of theses materials being fashioned into a weapon of mass destruction ora a radiological dispersal device ("dirty bomb") to be used against the United States or its key allies and international partners.

Under the SLD program, NNSA works collaboratively with foreign partners to equip border crossings, airports and seaports with radiation detection equipment and associated communication equipment.  The SLD program provides training in the use of the systems for appropriate law enforcement officials and initial system sustainability support as the host government assumes operational responsibility for the equipment.

Two programs fall under SLD: the Core Program and the Megaports Initiative. The Core Program installs radiation detection equipment at borders, airports, and strategic ports in Russia, other former Soviet Union states, Eastern Europe and other key countries.  The Megaports Initiative provides radiation detection equipment to key international seaports to screen cargo containers for nuclear and other radioactive materials regardless of the container destination.

SLD Core Program

• Goal: Equip approximately 650 sites in 32 countries with detection equipment.
  • Established an agreement with Russian Federal Customs Service to equip all of Russia’s border crossings (370 sites) with radiation detection equipment by the end of 2011.  Cost for this effort will be split between NNSA and the Federal Customs Service of Russia.  221 sites in Russia have been equipped by the SLD program to date, in some cases with partial funding provided by FCS.
  • Initiated the installation and/or sustainment of radiation detection systems and associated training in Ukraine, Slovakia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Greece, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Estonia, Mongolia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Israel, Romania, and at the Vienna International Center (in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency).  A total of 94 sites outside of Russia have received radiation detection systems to date.
  • Pursuing agreements to implement the SLD Core Program in other high priority countries.
  • Working with foreign law enforcement entities to deploy mobile (e.g., van-mounted or man-portable) radiation detection systems to enhance their efforts to detect, deter, and interdict between official borders and at points internal to the country.

Megaports Initiative

• Goal: Equip over 100 seaports with radiation detection equipment, scanning approximately 50% of global shipping traffic by 2015.
• Cooperating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in implementation of the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) at international ports. this effort provides host nations and CBP with the capability to scan U.S.-bound at international ports with a integrated system, comprised of both radiation detection and non-intrusive imaging equipment.
• Completed installations at 30 ports in various locations to date in: Bahamas, Belgium, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Greece, Honduras (SFI Port), Israel, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Oman (SFI Port), Pakistan (SFI Port), Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, South Korea (SFI Port), Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom (SFI Port).
• Implementation is underway at 16 ports in the following locations:  Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates.
• Pursuing agreements at additional ports worldwide.

Sustainability Program

• Goal:  To ensure the long-term operation of SLD systems by host country partners within 3-5 years for all Core and Megaports countries. 
• Cooperating under existing SLD program agreements, the Sustainability Program is building host country partners' indigenous capabilities to fully support SLD systems.
• SLD systems are transitioned when an indigenous capability to support all functions of the SLD system is exhibited.
• Sustainability Program presently supports more than 121 SLD sites, which are in various stages of transition to full host country partner responsibility.
• SLD utilizes a variety of tools to assist in the support of SLD systems, including local maintenance provider assistance, refresher training for operators and trainers, Help Desk reach back capability to resolve in-country issues, and assurance visits to evaluate system performance and provide feedback to the host country partners.

Media contact(s):
NNSA Public Affairs (202) 586-7371