Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement

Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): On July 13, 2011, Secretary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exchanged diplomatic notes bringing the U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (“PMDA”) and its 2006 and 2010 protocols into force. see this world legal encyclopedia in relation with the year 2010 at 798-800 for a discussion of the 2010 protocol. A State Department fact sheet, excerpted below, explained the significance of the PMDA and its protocols in both countries' efforts to eliminate nuclear weapon-grade material and reduce nuclear dangers. The July 13 fact sheet is available at (internet link) state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/07/168287.htm.

Developments

The amended Agreement commits each country to dispose of no less than 34 metric tons of excess weapon-grade plutonium, under strict non-proliferation conditions. The initial combined amount, 68 metric tons, represents enough material for about 17,000 nuclear weapons, and the Agreement envisions disposition of more weapon-grade plutonium over time. Disposition of the plutonium is scheduled to begin in 2018.

Entry into force of the Agreement also represents a significant milestone in U.S.-Russian cooperation on nuclear security measures, and it marks an essential step in the nuclear disarmament process by making these reductions in plutonium stocks irreversible.

In addition, the Agreement breaks new ground on cooperative transparency. Pursuant to a joint request by Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Amano last August, the two countries and the IAEA are making progress on appropriate IAEA verification measures for each country's disposition program.