Clinton makes the world safer with less plutonium

Yesterday, Secretary Clinton helped make the world a safer place by signing the Plutonium Disposition Protocol with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, as seen in these photos. Under the agreement, the United States and Russia will dispose of enough weapons-grade plutonium to make nearly 17,000 nuclear weapons.

At the signing Clinton said:

Under the agreement we are about to sign, the United States and Russia will each irreversibly and transparently dispose of no less than 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Together, that is enough material for nearly 17,000 nuclear weapons. And we will put in place the framework and infrastructure needed to dispose of even more plutonium from defense programs in the future.

The agreement provides for monitoring and inspections that will ensure that this material will never again be used for weapons or any other military purpose. By using civil nuclear reactors to dispose of the plutonium, we gain an added benefit — to produce electricity for our people, even as we remove a potential serious danger.

As FP‘s Pulitzer-winning contributor David E. Hoffman wrote recently, “Time Is of the Essence” when it comes to nuclear security.