September 16, 1999

Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting Program

Since 1994, the Department of Energy (Department) and its national laboratories have worked in the successor states of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to improve nuclear material security and accountability. The goal of the Department's Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC&A) program is to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism by rapidly upgrading physical protection and material control and accounting systems at FSU facilities using modern technology and strict material control and accounting principles. The Department is attempting to achieve this goal by providing assistance in the form of expertise, funds, and equipment to facilities in the FSU that store, process, and/or transport plutonium or highly enriched uranium.