Office Spotlight

The Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund

Reducing threats and addressing nonproliferation priorities around the world

An NDF-funded X-ray scanner for vehicles located at an Egyptian inspection point. These scanners search for illicit weapons and other contraband. Photo by Paul van Son

by John N. Conlon

The Department of State has many responsibilities: maintaining relationships with overseas partners; standing up for human rights; promoting American business; and aiding American citizens overseas. Perhaps the most important of these is the Department’s role in ensuring U.S. national security, which includes the vital field of nonproliferation: keeping the world’s most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the world’s most dangerous people. One of the most flexible tools the Department possesses to advance nonproliferation is the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF). Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, NDF provides a means through which the Department addresses unanticipated nonproliferation opportunities and priorities that emerge around the world.

Members of the NDF staff pose in the Harry S. Truman building lobby, June 6, (from left) Aaron Burkley, Adebessi Charles Wong, Daniel Hirsch, Emma Grimes, Joanna Gabryszewski, Karla Blunt, Robert Paulson, Mark White, Lillie Patterson, Lucy Jackson, Reginald Smith, Tim Green and John Conlon. Photo by Mark J. White

During the Cold War, communist regimes in Eastern Europe spent a tremendous share of their national wealth on weapons of mass destruction (WMD), delivery systems and other weapons. After communism fell, Congress was concerned that the legacy WMD could fall into the hands of rogue regimes and terrorists. In response, Congress created a suite of proliferation threat reduction initiatives throughout the federal government, including the NDF.

The NDF’s Finance section includes (from left) Emma Grimes, Adebessi Charles Wong, acting Deputy Director/Comptroller Karla Blunt, Lillie Patterson and Marie Ann Frey (not pictured). Photo by Mark J. White

While most U.S. threat reduction programs develop their program plans in accordance with the annual federal budget cycle, the NDF is designed to respond to opportunities that emerge in real time. NDF funding is not programmed in advance. Additionally, NDF funds are “no-year” money. Unlike other U.S. accounts that expire after a designated period of time, NDF funding is available until expended. Congress granted that authority because the NDF negotiates with some of the world’s toughest and most distasteful actors: those who would pursue WMD. Because of its no-year money, negotiators are not constrained by expiring funds, and foreign interlocutors do not gain an advantage by stalling. Consequently, the NDF has all the time it needs to develop the best possible deal for the U.S. taxpayer.

The NDF also has notwithstanding authority, or the authority to use its funding notwithstanding other restrictions of U.S. law. Congress granted this notwithstanding authority for the NDF to provide negotiators with the flexibility to assist countries subject to assistance restrictions when the Department believes that it is in the U.S. national security interest to do so. As a result, the NDF has developed nonproliferation initiatives with regimes and countries that could not receive foreign assistance from most other U.S. government programs.

Threat Reduction Achievements from the Department’s NONPROLIFERATION AND DISARMAMENT FUND 2002 In an operation known as Project Vinca, 48 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium was flown out of Belgrade and safely secured in Dimitrovgrad, Russia, where it was blended down into low enriched uranium for use as commercial reactor fuel. This NDF effort earned a banner headline in the Aug. 23, 2002 edition of the “Washington Post.” 2003 Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi eliminates Libya’s WMD programs and restricts the range of their missiles. In response, the NDF funded the removal from Libya of centrifuges capable of enriching uranium, other equipment used to produce nuclear weapons and longer-range missiles, including five Scuds—a type of Soviet-make ballistic missile—along with their launchers. 2007-2008 The government of North Korea agreed to eliminate three plutonium production facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex: the 5 MW(e) nuclear reactor, the spent fuel reprocessing plant and the fuel rod fabrication facility. The NDF completed several steps toward their elimination before the North Koreans pulled out of their commitment. Most dramatically, the Department used NDF funds to support the June 2008 implosion of the reactor’s cooling tower which was watched live around the world. 2010-2011 The NDF assisted Ukraine in eliminating its Scud missile system. These Scuds were designed to carry nuclear warheads. Over 185 Scud missile airframes and 50 transporter-erector-launchers were destroyed or demilitarized along with support equipment including refueling trucks, warhead transport vans and command and control trucks. 2015-Present The NDF has undertaken a number of actions to reduce the threat posed by chemical weapons use in the Syrian conflict. This includes support to the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Additionally, the Department jointly won the Federal Laboratory Commission’s Interagency Partnership Award for the NDF’s effort in developing a new forensic technology to distinguish covert nuclear weapons detonations from seismic activity, such as earthquakes. The Department jointly won this award with its interagency partners in the Departments of Energy and Defense, as well as Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Teledyne Brown Engineering. Infographic by State Magazine

The Department has developed a record of threat reduction achievements through NDF programs that have helped bolster U.S. national security and made the world a little bit safer.

NDF’s acting Office Director Joanna M. Gabryszewski is shown inside her office, June 6. Photo by Mark J. White

NDF Officer John N. Conlon stands next to an NDF-funded system that detects argon-37; this system was a vital technology for distinguishing nuclear detonations from earthquakes at a visit to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sept. 7, 2017. Photo by Samantha Clark

While the NDF is proud of its past accomplishments, NDF personnel are also busy anticipating the challenges of the future. Currently, the NDF has funding and logistical resources at the ready to be deployed should there be a breakthrough in the dialogue with North Korea. The Department is also considering a number of other potential NDF efforts around the world, whether it be assisting the International Atomic Energy Agency’s work with foreign nuclear regulators, developing and implementing new technologies to enhance the international system for the monitoring of nuclear explosions, or assisting foreign governments to control the traffic of weapons throughout their national territories.

The NDF looks forward to building upon the work it has accomplished to prevent the development and use of WMD over the next 25 years. And while other U.S. national security initiatives may be larger or higher profile, the NDF remains a top contributor to U.S. national security.

John N. Conlon, PMP, is a foreign affairs officer in the Office of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.