Nuclear Threat Reduction

Nuclear threat reduction is a cornerstone of US-Kazakhstan efforts to ensure regional stability. With a significant support from the US the country voluntarily destructed 1,300 nuclear warheads inherited from USSR under the Cooperative Threat Reduction Initiative, initiated by Senators Nunn and lugar. Kazakhstan now takes an active approach to promoting nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, as well as control, accounting and physical security of nuclear material.

Kazakhstan is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (CANWFZ). Kazakhstan is an active partner nation in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, which aims to strengthen the global capacity to prevent, detect and respond to nuclear terrorism. With a strong support of the US, Kazakhstan opened the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear fuel bank on August 29, 2017, the eighth anniversary of International Day against Nuclear Tests. This bank prevents proliferation of nuclear weapons by allowing countries to purchase fuel rather than setting up their own enrichment plants.

Kazakhstan, in cooperation with the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), opened its Nuclear Security Training Center (NSTC) in 2017 in Alatau, Kazakhstan. The training center allows Kazakhstan to train personnel from local, regional, and international nuclear facilities and organizations.