Obama hails Nunn, Lugar efforts to secure nukes

Source: AP-Timesunion.com

By MATTHEW DALY

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hailing two decades of efforts to help the former Soviet Union secure nuclear weapons stockpiles, President Barack Obama said Monday that the world must continue to stand guard against nuclear threats — including terrorists who seek to gain control of nuclear weapons.

"We cannot let our guard down," Obama said, calling efforts to combat nuclear terrorism one of his top priorities as president.

Obama praised the 20-year-old Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which has provided billions of dollars in U.S. equipment and know-how to help Russia and former Soviet bloc nations safeguard and dismantle nuclear and chemical weapons.

The program, initiated by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., has helped deactivate more than 7,600 nuclear warheads.


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Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., right, former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., center, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, listen as President Barack Obama, not pictured, speaks at the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) symposium being held at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. (AP / AP)

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