I would like to congratulate Drs. National security is an area in which the benefits of international collaboration have been critical. Through cooperation with scientists in the former Soviet Union, we have been able to substantially reduce the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Of equal importance is our effort to prevent the proliferation of weapons expertise. Nuclear Cities Initiative could be the crucial factor in keeping these scientists productively employed.
International cooperation is also critical to the success of arms control treaties.
The Energy Department labs provide essential training in nuclear material controls to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Through unclassified training programs, these foreign inspectors learn to monitor adherence to nuclear treaties and ensure against the diversion of nuclear materials. U.S. researchers now work with international colleagues to monitor the Chemical Weapons Convention, and they are already laying the groundwork for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty's entry into force. Even purely national goals such as maintaining our own nuclear weapons capability require us to keep abreast of advances in the international scientific community. Hundreds of atomic physicists around the world work to test and improve atomic physics models.