Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Update: On December 22, 2010 the Senate voted 71-26 to ratify the New START Treaty! This was a huge victory for bipartisan policy-making, with 13 Republicans rejecting partisan politics and supporting international arms control. New START is the first major international agreement to be ratified by the Senate since the end of the Cold War, and we send our thanks and congratulations to all of our partner groups that worked so hard for many months to get this treaty ratified.

Our work for disarmament is not done, but this victory sets us up with many opportunities for further progress in 2011. Go to our Act page to learn more about our campaign priorities for 2011 and get materials and resources to join the movement for a nuclear weapons free world.

The Nuclear Security Summit gathered 47 world leaders in DC to commit to achieving the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material, such as plutonium or highly enriched uranium, and securing loose nuclear weapons within four years. President Obama linked the summit to the vision of achieving a nuclear weapons free world, which he outlined in his speech from Prague last year. With world leaders gathered, the summit was also an opportunity to raise the profile of nuclear disarmament.

The Fiscal Year 2011 budget has a 10% increase for nuclear weapons programs, bringing total funding to about $7 billion. I wanted to share with you a roundup of some excellent analysis of the budget by groups in the disarmament community, as well as two announcements about activities around the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and the Kansas City Plant.

Analysis of the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

“Proposed DoE funding also includes large increases for a facility that will expand plutonium production in Los Alamos, New Mexico and for a new highly enriched uranium production facility near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, each estimated to cost about $3 billion. The Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR) plutonium facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory increased from $97 million in FY 2010 to $225 million in FY 2011. Y-12’s Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) also increased to $115 million from $94 million in FY 2010.”

Many NGOs are participating in the May 4-15 Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the UN. The NPT is a cornerstone treaty underlying global non-proliferation efforts.

A number of organizations that work on nuclear weapons issues attended the PrepCom. Reaching Critical Will is following the events at the PrepCom, including posting government statements online. Physicians for Social Responsibility posted regular updates about the PrepCom here. Want to share your experiences at the PrepCom? Post a comment or link to your report back in the comments sections.

At this year’s PrepCom, US Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, the lead negotiator for an agreement to replace the expiring START treaty on nuclear weapons reductions with Russia, presented a message from President Obama at the UN:

An excerpt from President Obama’s speech on April 5, 2009

Yesterday in Prague, President Barack Obama made a groundbreaking speech in which he pledged “to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” His significant call for the elimination of nuclear weapons re-orients US nuclear policy, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive arms control agreements and of international cooperation.

President Obama’s agenda comes at a time when the nuclear threat is growing, rather than decreasing. His call for a nuclear weapon’s free world has the bipartisan support of a wide swath of political heavy-weights, including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry, and former Senators Sam Nunn and Chuck Hagel. According to polling, people around the globe also support achieving a nuclear weapons free world.