ARMENIA AND U.S. TO JOINTLY COMBAT NUCLEAR SMUGGLING

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.07.2008 14:26 GMT+04:00

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian signed on July 14, 2008, the "Joint Action Plan
between the Government of the United States of America and the
Government of the Republic of Armenia on Combating Smuggling of
Nuclear and Radioactive Materials."

This political agreement expresses the intention of the two governments
to cooperate to increase the capabilities of the Republic of Armenia
to prevent, detect, and respond effectively to attempts to smuggle
nuclear or radioactive materials. With this agreement, the U.S. and
Armenian governments are significantly enhancing their collaborative
efforts to combat the threat that nuclear or highly radioactive
materials could be acquired by terrorists.

This is the fifth agreement of this nature that has been concluded by
the U.S. government’s Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative. Previous
agreements were completed with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the
Kyrgyz Republic. To date, eight countries and three international
organizations have partnered with the U.S. government to provide
assistance to support implementation of these agreements, reported
the press office of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan