#7 - RW 265
BBC Monitoring
Less than half of Russia's customs posts have radiation detectors - US report
Source: Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey news agency web site, Moscow, in English
1421 gmt 14 Jul 03

Moscow, 14 July: Less than 50 per cent of Russia's customs offices have operational displays and radiation detectors, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has said in a report.

In the document entitled "Protecting against the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons", the CSIS calls for the soonest possible development of the equipment and support of analytical laboratories reporting to the State Customs Service. Poor equipping of Russian customs and border checkpoints with radiation control assets increased the danger of unsanctioned spread of nuclear materials, authors of the report argue.

In addition to radiation detectors, law-enforcement agencies of Russia and other CIS nations badly need X-ray and gamma-ray detectors, as well as assistance in establishing a more efficient communication among remote border pickets, regional centres, staffs and officials, the report reads.

According to the document, developed countries should help educational establishments of Russian customs and border services in upgrading and diversifying training programmes and improving the customs personnel's skills in detecting dual-purpose goods that can be used in making weapons of mass destruction.

Over 100 research reactors in over 40 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Uzbekistan are using high-enriched uranium. They often fail to raise enough funds for the protection of new or activated fuel, the report reads.

The report was compiled in the framework of the Strengthening the Global

Partnership Programme with the help of leading European, Canadian, Japanese and international research organizations. It was submitted to the G8 nations that signed the Global Partnership agreement in the nonproliferation sphere in Kananaskis in 2002. The Russian translation of the document has been recently published by the Institute of Global Economy and International Relations under the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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