SAFEGUARDING THE NUCLEAR MATERIALS CYCLE

The United States and the international community face the increasingly pressing challenge of managing the flow of nuclear materials from cradle to grave. Building on our work in the handling and disposition of nuclear weapon materials, both at home and with the states of the former Soviet Union, we must address all sources of nuclear materials, from power plants to dismantled nuclear weapons.

We are working with Russia to shut down its reactors that continue to produce weapons-grade plutonium so that they can be converted to a safer, non-weapons grade configuration that still would generate electricity. We also are buying highly enriched uranium from Russia that is blended down for use in U.S. power reactors. At the same time, the Administration discourages the civil use of plutonium and thus does not reprocess spent nuclear fuel to recover plutonium.

Policies need to ensure that the management and disposal of nuclear material (weapons grade and civilian waste) is addressed at all stages in a coordinated manner. We seek to ensure that strict nonproliferation safeguards are built into all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle and that these materials are kept under strict and responsible control.

To ensure safe management of the complete nuclear fuel cycle, we are developing a comprehensive, "cradle-to-grave” plan for management and disposal of civilian and military nuclear waste that is consistent with our energy, environment and nonproliferation objectives. This will better ensure that the storage of civilian nuclear waste, from the moment it leaves its reactors to its final placement in a permanent repository, fully meets these objectives.

munications, banking, and finance systems; electrical power, gas, and water distribution systems; emergency services; and continuity of government systems upon which our society depends. The President has recently created a Critical Infrastructure Protection Commission and charged it with recommending a comprehensive national policy and implementation strategy for protecting our infrastructure and assuring its continued operation.

MOBILIZING SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY FOR GLOBAL STABILITY
AND PROSPERITY

As one member of a global community, the United
States shares with the world common threats and chal-
lenges to sustained economic development.
Environmental degradation, natural resource depletion,
natural disasters, and disease can have major conse-
quences that threaten every nation. The rapid growth of
the world's population, projected to increase by up to one
billion each decade, exacerbates many of these dilem-
mas. History has shown that population pressures can
offset economic growth, lead to unsustainable demands
on food, other resources and the environment, and con-

tribute to disorder and mass dislocations. These pressures threaten global stability and security and are likely only to grow more pressing with the passing of time. Scientific research and monitoring underlie our ability to respond to many of these challenges. Global surveillance and basic biomedical research are key to dealing with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Science and technology can also affect population stabilization through education, planning, reproductive health care, and better methods of contraception; food security through increased agricultural productivity and improved food preservation, storage, and distribution; resource stewardship through research that strengthens the sustainable management of temperate and tropical forests, and coastal and marine resources; natural disaster reduction through developing and implementing technologies for both monitoring and mitigation; and the promotion of knowledge about options that support sustainable development. International networks of scientists and engineers provide an important resource in addressing these varied issues.

In addition, science and technology play an essential role in helping societies recover from the devastation and dangers that are left by conflict. For example, new technologies are playing a life-saving role in enabling the more effective and efficient

Cooperation in science and technology has been of great value in responding to international disasters and human tragedies. Volcano Disaster Assistance Program and Rabaul Volcano Observatory personnel installed volcano-monitoring instruments near the erupting Tavurvur volcano in Papua New Guinea. Fifty thousand people were successfully evacuated before the simultaneous eruption of two volcanos. With these instruments, scientists predicted the eruptions and provided information about when it was safe to return.

International cooperation in science and technology is also a means of more effectively achieving our national goals. For example, to more effectively mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, cooperation is invaluable. Although disasters are somewhat rare locally, they are common globally. Therefore cooperation yields valuable information and is a positive sum strategy for all nations. Cooperation can be used to accelerate the development of new technologies, data, and monitoring systems; reduce the costs of achieving needed advances or of gathering needed knowledge; pave the way for trade between U.S. manufacturers and international users; and mitigate the damage to facilities and capabilities overseas in which the United States has interests.

FOSTERING GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS

The Administration continues to work with other nations to build the framework through which cooperation in science and technology can strengthen our abili

ty to stem global threats, foster sustainable development, and advance areas of mutual interest. The Administration has promoted the development of platforms for engagement through bilateral commissions with nations including Russia, China, Ukraine, South Africa, and Egypt; through priority bilateral science and technology cooperation with key partners, including Japan and the European Union; and through multilateral forums such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and Summit of Americas. These arrangements facilitate a constant dialogue among science and technology policymakers, provide a steady framework to promote and protect U.S. interests abroad, apply science and technology more aggressively to meet our foreign policy priorities, and advance the frontiers of knowledge by drawing on a greater range of resources. Strategic engagement and international partnerships underlie our ability to incorporate science and technology into our foreign policy goals.

DEFUSING EXPLOSIVE THREATS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Today, an estimated 80 to 110 million landmines remain in places that were once sites of conflict, killing and maiming more than 25,000 individuals per year. In addition to their costs in terms of human suffering, landmines obstruct economic development programs and keep refugees from returning to their homelands. Entire regions are denied basic services because repairs to infrastructure are impeded, humanitarian aid shipments are disrupted, and societies are thrown into chaos. The vast majority of these landmines remain active for decades, leaving a deadly legacy of conflicts that have long since ceased.

According to the United Nations, only some 80,000 mines were extracted in 1993, while an estimated 2.5 million more were laid. Mines that cost as little as $3 on the open market can cost up to $1,000 to clear. Therefore, new demining technologies and procedures are required.

In May 1996, the President announced an antipersonnel landmine policy that sets out a concrete path to a global ban on antipersonnel landmines and works to protect civilians in affected areas from those mines that have already been laid. This policy directs the Department of Defense to “undertake a substantial program to develop improved mine detection and clearing technology and to share this improved technology with the broader international community." DOD is also directed to “significantly expand its humanitarian demining program to train and assist other countries in developing effective demining programs."

The Humanitarian Demining Program within the DOD is developing technologies and building prototypes for a wide variety of approaches to mine detection, neutralization, and removal, ranging from "weedwhackers" with extra-long handles that can clear the vegetation above suspected mines safely, to integrated, sensor-fused, thermal imaging sensors, metal detectors, and ground-penetrating radars that can detect mines directly or the disturbed soil conditions that indicate their presence. This program works closely with demining efforts in the field, supplying prototype equipment as soon as it is developed, and getting feedback from users to develop further improvements. Items deployed include specially trained mine-detecting dogs, tele-operated miniature flails, computer-aided training modules, and worldwide mine databases. The United States is deploying mine detectors, flails, and explosive foams (used for destroying mines in place) to Bosnia-Herzegovina. In addition, the first non-governmental purchase of equipment developed under this program is being made by a relief organization for use in Cambodia.

SHORING UP SOUTH AFRICA'S DEMOCRACY

Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, the United States is cooperating with South Africa in science and technology for mutual gain. Through our science and technology relationship, we are helping the new South Africa achieve its development goals of an adequate food supply, access to basic health care for all, and a stronger science and technology base. The United States is meeting its foreign policy objectives of building a stronger, more stable, and prosperous South Africa, which can serve as a foundation for democracy in the region. Moreover, science and technology cooperation will allow U.S. scientists to access important scientific data and will expand markets in South Africa for U.S. technologies by promoting joint technology development and creating a technologically literate South African workforce.

To achieve these goals, the U.S. government has set up joint programs in climate research, biomedical research, teacher training, agricultural technology, and basic sciences. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute for Standards and Technology has also initiated a cooperative program in standards and metrology, which is critical to opening South African markets to U.S. high-tech products. Another example is the collaboration between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and the South African Weather Bureau to track the climate phenomenon known as El Niño. This collaboration has already enabled scientists to predict drought up to a year in advance, allowing farmers to plant crops that will survive dry conditions, thereby assuring reliable food production and stable rural economies. Predicting El Nino has important health implications, as well, because the heavy rains associated with it can lead to outbreaks of malaria. Finally, the training component of the joint program will create a new generation of South African climatologists.

Through binational commissions and partnerships, the Administration can more effectively address a range of priorities with our international partners. One example is the U.S-Russian Commission which, in three years, has facilitated numerous collaborations in all fields of science and technology, including a recently established energy efficiency partnership to promote U.S. technology exports and help Russia reduce pollution emissions. Working through the Commission, the United States established a new foundation to support civilian R&D collaboration between scientists in the United States and scientists in the states of the former Soviet Union. Another example is the U.S.-Japan Common Agenda. Since its inception in 1993, partnerships have been formed and strengthened in over 24 areas, all of which contribute to sustainable development and the mitigation of common threats. One example is the enhanced partnership in earthquake disaster reduction to promote science and technology advances that will lead to safer communities. In our relationship with China, there have been over 1,000 official bilateral projects involving the exchange of over 10,000 people.

Through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum the United States has a framework for working with the fastest growing economies in the world. Since President Clinton convened the first meeting of APEC leaders in 1993, United States

engagement in this forum has made important strides
in promoting sustainable development. At the first
Science and Technology Ministerial in 1995, Ministers
— with U.S. leadership — agreed to collaborate on
challenges in the environment, natural disasters, and
human health. In 1996, the United States supported
a focus on challenges to human resource development
in science and technology in the APEC region and led
in forming the APEC Cleaner Production/Clean
Technology Strategy.

In Africa, the Administration is working with 21 sub-Saharan nations to extend the benefits of the Global Information Infrastructure. Through the recently created Leland Initiative, the U.S. Agency for International Development is fostering the use of telematic technologies in which U.S. firms are world leaders to overcome barriers to sustainable development. This initiative will harness the powerful information and communication tools of the Internet to address challenges such as disease, literacy, environmental protection, and private sector development. The Administration has also promoted the use of science and technology by working closely with various global organizations. We have worked with the World Health Organization to successfully eradicate smallpox, and are working to combat the threat of emerging infectious diseases. The Administration's policy to fight emerging infectious diseases seeks to

make needed improvements in the international
and domestic capabilities for surveillance, preven-
tion, and response to these growing global health
threats. We are drawing upon provisions of the U.N.
Law of the Sea Convention to gain greater access to
marine research data vital to managing ocean
resources and understanding global change. And we
have worked with the U.N. Population Summit in
Cairo to strengthen science and technology support for
more effective family planning.

Through various bilateral and multilateral organizations, the Administration also is seeking to strengthen free markets and integrate other nations into a larger, more open economic order. Studies have shown that economic linkages with the international community

and the world system of trade enhance the stability of developing nations and nations in transition to democracy. We pursue these objectives by promoting United States science and technology cooperation, trade with established trading partners, and investments in economies in transition.

Finally, we will continue to work with nongovernmental organizations and industry to achieve these goals in an effective manner. At our urging, the multilateral development banks are now placing increased emphasis upon sustainable development in their funding decisions. This priority heightens awareness of technological options for more environmentally sound development. In particular, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), established in 1994,