{"id":41610,"date":"2019-12-02T09:30:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T09:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/02\/nnsa-administrator-the-us-and-nuclear-threat-reduction\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:21:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:21:50","slug":"nnsa-administrator-the-us-and-nuclear-threat-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/outlook\/2019\/12\/02\/nnsa-administrator-the-us-and-nuclear-threat-reduction\/","title":{"rendered":"NNSA administrator: The US and nuclear threat reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In October, U.S. special operations forces launched the daring raid in Syria that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi<\/a>. This operation brought justice to a brutal murderer and marked an important victory in the war against jihadist terrorist groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, if the last two decades have taught us anything, it is that killing or capturing the leadership of groups such as ISIS seldom diminishes their desire to attack American civilians or those of our allies. Indeed, every time we pass through airport security, attend a large public event or watch the news, we are reminded that these organizations seek to inflict harm upon us. Since the end of the Cold War, the possibility that a terrorist group or other adversary could obtain radioactive or nuclear materials has been a major concern. The consequences of such material being weaponized in a radiological dispersal device or improvised nuclear device could be significant in terms of lives lost, property destroyed and fear created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why when Congress established the National Nuclear Security Administration<\/a> in 2000, one of its three primary missions was to reduce nuclear threats<\/a> around the world. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry strongly reaffirmed this mission at the 2018 International Atomic Energy Agency\u2019s General Conference, declaring that \u201cwe must deny nuclear weapons to nonstate actors \u2026 including terrorists. We must protect nuclear and radioactive material from theft or misuse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This essay is part of the Defense News 2020 Outlook project. Click here for more.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, the Department of Energy and the NNSA have worked diligently over the past two decades to put these words into action by securing radioactive and nuclear materials<\/a>. We have removed or confirmed the disposition of 7,166 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, and plutonium downblended or eliminated from 48 countries and Taiwan \u2014 enough material for more than 300 nuclear weapons<\/a>. Other recent successes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n