By the end of next year, we hope to have placed 100 metric tons of weapons-usable nuclear material under improved control. Beyond Russia, the Department of Energy is on the front lines, tightening controls on dangerous nuclear materials in other countries, such as North Korea, where our teams are nearly finished placing 8,000 spent fuel rods that contain weapon-ready plutonium in secure canisters. This is a key element of the U.S.- North Korea Agreed Framework that froze the North Korean nuclear program in place. The Department is also at work in Kazakhstan to protect tons of additional plutonium from theft or illicit sale. These critical programs illustrate our willingness to lead in non-proliferation matters.
Leadership means making hard choices.
We have to stand together when states such as Iraq and North Korea violate their non-proliferation commitments. We demand nothing less than the immediate resumption of international inspections in Iraq and a complete accounting of North Korea's past nuclear activities. And we insist that India and Pakistan take steps now to restrain their strategic programs. We are doubly concerned by the recent military coup in Pakistan and are urging the immediate restoration of civilian rule. A Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty would support our non-proliferation aims in each of these countries.