Episodes and Videos
Yamiche Alcindor
Washington Week
Friday Nights on PBS
Japan surrenders part of its nuclear stockpile for disposal
Video of Japan surrenders part of its nuclear stockpile for disposal
Air Date:
Video Type:
Gwen's NewsHour Reports
Nuclear threat
Japan said it would relinquish a large cache of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium -- enough to build dozens of nuclear weapons -- to the U.S. for disposal, just as a nuclear security summit opens at The Hague. Gwen Ifill assesses the deal with Matthew Bunn of Harvard University.
GWEN IFILL: Finally tonight: dismantling the world's nuclear arsenal.
Japan agreed today it would relinquish enough weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium to make dozens of nuclear weapons. The announcement came as leaders from around the globe gathered in The Hague for a nuclear security summit.
Matthew Bunn, an expert on nuclear proliferation issues at the John F. Kennedy school of government at Harvard University, joins us to explain the day's developments.
So what led up to this handover, and if, in fact, they were so insecure, this fissile material, then what took so long?
MATTHEW BUNN, Harvard University: Well, this is something the United States has been talking about with Japan for some years.
And I wouldn't say that it was very insecure in Japan. There have been some important security improvements there in recent years. After the 9/11 attacks, they added armed guards at this site. There have been some more significant security improvements quite recently.
But this is really a tremendous step forward. This is some of the best material for terrorists if they could get their hands on it that exists in states without nuclear weapons. And now we're going to be getting rid of it entirely. It's material that's really the same stuff you would get if you broke into a U.S. nuclear weapons facility, but not with the same kind of security that exists at those facilities here in the United States.
GWEN IFILL: They also — I'm sorry. They also asked today that they would be doing the same — handing over some materials from Belgium and Italy and the U.S. would be taking control of these materials. Does that mean that it's happening around the world, that there are a lot of locations where this material exists?
MATTHEW BUNN: Well, actually, that's right.
This is one part of a much larger global effort that's bringing these 53 countries together in The Hague. So far, just over the last five years, there are 13 countries that have eliminated all of the material on their soil that you could use to make a nuclear bomb. So that represents really in a very real sense bombs that will never go off.
But, at this summit, we're also seeing a lot of progress in other areas. There are going to be new initiatives where a number of countries agreement to follow IAEA regulations — that's from the International Atomic Energy Agency — and to accept regular peer review of their securities arrangements.
There's going to be a new initiative on radiological sources that's been announced. So there's really quite a number of major steps that are being taken at this summit.
GWEN IFILL: I have to ask you a really practical question. What happens to this material once it's handed over? If it's dangerous there, why isn't it dangerous here?
MATTHEW BUNN: Well, this is material that is going to be added to large stockpiles that already exist in the United States and already require very serious security.
And then the sides have agreed that the highly enriched uranium will be blended down to low-enriched uranium. You can actually destroy highly enriched uranium so that it's not useful in nuclear bombs anymore and use it for the standard fuel for nuclear power plants. And the plutonium will be added to whatever measure we eventually manage to figure out for our own stocks of excess plutonium.
GWEN IFILL: Well, fewer — as you said, fewer nations now have this kind of material than had maybe five, even 10 years ago, but which nations still have it that you worry about the most?
MATTHEW BUNN: Well, I would argue — and we argued in a report we just put out from Harvard University a few days ago — that pretty much every one of the dozens of countries where this material still exists has more to do to make sure that it is secure.
There are about 30 countries where this material exists, although, in a handful of them, it's less than a kilogram. And there are hundreds of buildings. But really the biggest stocks are in the United States and Russia, the two countries that have something like 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons and more than three-quarters of the world's potential nuclear bomb material.
GWEN IFILL: Who pays for the transfer of this kind of material?
MATTHEW BUNN: Well, Japan will pay the United States a fee for the management of this highly enriched uranium and plutonium.
If past experience is any guide, that fee may not quite cover the full cost. So I would say, my guess is that, in the end, the United States and Japan will end up sharing the cost of managing this dangerous material, but I think that's a worthwhile investment in U.S. security, because the reality is that insecure nuclear material anywhere is a threat to everyone everywhere.
GWEN IFILL: And, Matthew Bunn, finally, how — how — is there any global agreement that's being reached about how to track and secure this kind of material overall?
MATTHEW BUNN: Well, that's really one part of what we need to do as we look toward the next and probably last nuclear security summit that will be happening in Washington or somewhere in the United States in 2016.
We need to put together a stronger global framework for managing nuclear security that includes effective standards, clear accountability to confirm that states are following those standards, and some way of continuing the dialogue so we can maintain momentum in improving nuclear security after we stop meeting at the summit level.
GWEN IFILL: Matthew Bunn of the JFK School at Harvard, thanks so much.
MATTHEW BUNN: Thank you.
This Week on Washington Week: President Biden Pulls Troops From Afghanistan As Police Killing Sparks Protests
President Joe Biden is making major foreign policy moves this week. On Wednesday, he announced the U.S. would fully withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. And on Thursday, he will introduce new sanctions against Russia as retaliation for its election interference and hacking efforts.
News You Need to Know
Asian-American Lawmakers to Press Biden on Hate Crimes, Cabinet Representation
Asian-American lawmakers will press President Biden to take more action to counter discrimination and inequities in their first meeting of his presidency, after the Senate advanced a bill to expedite the Justice Department's review of hate crimes rel
Bolton Criticizes Trump Over Moves on North Korea
President Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, has criticized the administration's efforts to broker the denuclearization of North Korea, saying they have been "more rhetorical" than real policy.
Iran Breaches Critical Limit on Nuclear Fuel Under 2015 Deal
WASHINGTON — Iran has exceeded a key limitation on how much nuclear fuel it can possess under the 2015 international pact curbing its nuclear program, effectively declaring that it would no longer respect an agreement that President Trump abandoned m
Trump Steps Into North Korea and Agrees With Kim Jong-un to Resume Talks
SEOUL, South Korea — President Trump on Sunday became the first sitting American commander in chief to set foot in North Korea as he met Kim Jong-un, the country's leader, at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, and the two agreed to restart neg
With a New Threat, Iran Tests the Resolve of the U.S. and Its Allies
After coming to office vowing to solve two very different nuclear crises, President Trump finds himself in a bind familiar to his predecessors: careening toward a confrontation with Iran and stalemated with North Korea.
Iran Will Stop Complying With Some Parts of Nuclear Deal
Iran's president declared on Wednesday that the country would stop complying with two of its commitments under the Iranian nuclear deal, pushing the growing confrontation between Washington and Tehran into new and potentially dangerous territory.
Web Clip
3 stories you might have missed
Have you been keeping up? Check out these stories you might have missed.
Even Before Trump and Kim Met, Nuclear Talks Had Run Aground
Weeks before President Trump journeyed to Vietnam for his second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, there were unmistakable signs the historic meeting might not yield an agreement.
Support provided by:
Subscribe to the Washington Week Newsletter
Follow @washingtonweek'
John Bresnahan
@bresreports
Follow @bresreports
"No SALT, no deal" is back t.co/TFPyeZUD7Z
4 min 31 sec ago.
Jonathan Martin
@jmartNYT
Follow @jmartNYT
Dem consultant (not the one who made it!) sends over this @AlexLasryWI spot asking: Why isn't every Dem in '22 runn… t.co/iwia3cUx0r
Josh Lederman
@JoshNBCNews
Follow @JoshNBCNews
Well this is... terrifying... t.co/S7SmeSirmS
14 min 36 sec ago.
@PBS
Follow @PBS
Shark cams take us where divers never could — but what the sharks have filmed is worrying. Uncover the truth in A… t.co/HCNAdnSMid
@AshleyRParker
Follow @AshleyRParker
"A 2013 projection pegged Earth's viability for life to be good for another 1.75 billion to 3.25 billion years, ass… t.co/YDXCYP8y60
McConnell language here recalls how he approached BIF Doesn't mean he'll be for it. But by encouraging talks it op… t.co/WuhQTmbXK8
@NewsHour
Follow @NewsHour
The eruption severed Tonga's single fiber-optic cable, rendering the entire Pacific archipelago offline and unable… t.co/2kXydF0cIn
Karen Tumulty
@ktumulty
Follow @ktumulty
What I can't figure out is why I ever clipped this.
Finding some odd things as I cull my old recipe files. This is from 1993. Can't say I ever tried the broccoli enchi… t.co/VtjVpwXeKC
37 min 3 sec ago.
Josh Dawsey
@jdawsey1
Follow @jdawsey1
If Sally Jenkins wrote about paint drying on the wall, I'd read to the end. t.co/oQBbClkkVb
The NCAA has adopted a sport-by-sport approach for transgender athletes, bringing the organization in line with the… t.co/uVNOsOeY2P
yep. they are wonderful places. life isn't as good without a packed, buzzing one every day. t.co/ZGPWrLi6U2
@jdickerson
Follow @jdickerson
"How the Biden Administration Lost Its Way" by @mollyesque and @bybrianbennett in @TIME t.co/GdD2fitc6c
1 hour 47 sec ago.
"Washington Week" is a production of WETA Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2022 WETA. All rights reserved.
Major funding is provided by:
Sedition Charges, Voting Rights and COVID Confusion
LIVE: Watch the #WashWeekPBS Full Show and Extra livestream here
Inflation Nation
The Jan. 6 Investigation and What Comes Next for Congress
President Biden as the Consoler in Chief