Moscow, July 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the United States are not planning to increase the number of security personnel at their nuclear sites in response to the growing terrorist threat, the Russian Atomic Energy Minister said Tuesday.
"We are not planning to increase the number of armed units [protecting nuclear sites]," Alexander Rumyantsev told a Moscow press conference. He was commenting on the first report submitted to President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin by the U.S.-Russian Working Group on Nuclear Security.
However, the report does envisage the use of more sophisticated security systems to protect nuclear facilities, as well as improvements to monitoring systems, Rumyantsev said.
The minister said the working group had concluded that the current level of protection at Russian and U.S. nuclear sites was adequate. "But new challenges and threats are emerging today, which must be confronted," he said. In order to withstand these threats, Russia and the U.S. must keep improving the security systems used to protect their nuclear sites, he added.
On the instructions of President Bush and President Putin, the working group has spent the last three months putting together recommendations on how to meet the modern challenges to nuclear site security.
"The working group looked at emergency responses to any incidents involving fissile materials," the minister said. Both Russia and the U.S. already have special emergency response units.
"We hold training exercises, to which we invite observers from the United States," Rumynatsev said. He added that the possibility of setting up joint emergency response units might be discussed at U.S.-Russian seminars and other events on nuclear security.
The working group recommended that Russia and the U.S. hold seminars and exchanges on the security culture and the development of new nuclear security measures.
