Pete Domenici: “I'm pleased to join Senator Biden and Senator Lugar in sponsoring the Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism Threat…”

“I'm pleased to join Senator Biden and Senator Lugar in sponsoring the Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism Threat Reduction Act of 2002. Only a few months ago, I introduced the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 2002 with these same Senators and many others as co-sponsors. It's being called the Domenici-Biden-Lugar bill. I am pleased to learn that most provisions of that Act are being incorporated in the Conference on the Armed Services bill. The current bill and the Domenici-Biden-Lugar bill are highly complementary. The first bill focused entirely on the contributions that the Department of Energy should be authorized to make to minimize risks of nuclear and radiological risks to our citizens. The current bill focuses on the contributions that the Department of State should make in that same arena. And in both cases, there is careful recognition of the importance of a tight partnership between those two Departments in accomplishing this vital mission. I'm particularly pleased with this bill's focus on assisting in the creation of a number of international repositories that can be used to store radioactive sources safely, while ensuring that they don't become 'orphaned' sources that might fuel a terrorist's dirty bomb. Other provisions to assist the IAEA in promoting source inventory and recovery are also critical.”