Unsecured nuclear material poses risks
NPR's Robert Siegel asks Joe Cirincione what percentage of the estimated 500 tons of plutonium and 1,600 tons of highly-enriched uranium in existence is secure "in the sense that it's under the control of some stable, sovereign government or at least one that observes International Atomic Energy rules?" According to Joe, about half, "even though almost all of it is under the control of the government. And most of them observe the rules fairly strictly. The problem is they have varying degrees of security. Some of this is locked up very tightly at military bases with top flight vanguard troops protecting it. But a lot of it is still protected by little more than a chain link fence and a guard that works during the day."
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