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Joint Action Plan Combats Nuclear And Radioactive Smuggling

U.S. And Iraq Sign a Joint Action Plan to Combat Nuclear And Radioactive Smuggling

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 3, 2014

On September 2, the Governments of the United States and Iraq strengthened their bilateral partnership to prevent nuclear terrorism by concluding an agreement to advance protection against nuclear and radiological smuggling. This “Joint Action Plan Between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the United States of America on Combating Nuclear and Radioactive Materials Smuggling”, negotiated by the Department of State’s Bureau for International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) and signed by Michael Koplovsky, Minister Counselor of Economic Affairs at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, and Dr. Mohammed Al-Janabi, Chairman of the Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority, expresses the intention of the two governments to work together to enhance Iraq’s capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear smuggling incidents.

Following the signing of the Joint Action Plan at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. Government, via the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), presented the Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority (IRSRA) with radiation detection and identification equipment. Specifically, GTRI provided equipment and relevant training to IRSRA to locate, identify, characterize, and recover orphaned or disused radioactive sources in Iraq thereby reducing the risk of terrorists acquiring these dangerous materials.

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The signing and donation of radiation detection equipment reflect the common conviction of the U.S. and Iraqi Governments that nuclear smuggling and nuclear and radiological terrorism are critical and ongoing global threats that require a coordinated, global response. Iraq’s central location and the challenging security environment it faces reinforce the urgency with which these problems must be addressed.

Iraq plays a central role in combatting proliferation of nuclear/radiological material, and this Joint Action Plan and border-security collaboration strengthens an already excellent partnership that will make the United States, Iraq, and the region more secure.

ENDS

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