And we are pursuing cooperative programs to engage Russian weapon scientists in peaceful projects and facilitate the consolidation of Russia's nuclear weapons complex. Our most urgent worry is that the economic blows are affecting facilities' ability to protect and control nuclear materials. We have learned, for example, of cases of guards at some civilian nuclear sites not reporting for work and, in one extraordinary instance, electricity to a nuclear installation being cut off for nonpayment of utility bills, which obviously affected electricity-dependent security systems. So far we have no evidence that nuclear materials have been compromised. Nonetheless, these are serious developments, and the Department of Energy's task force on nuclear material security in Russia and the newly independent states has been working hard to address them.
Steps can be as simple as bricking up vulnerable windows and redundant access points.
We also are intensifying efforts to consolidate materials into fewer, more easily protected locations, although given the scale of the Russian nuclear complex, it will be a number of years before we see significant results. But the question of operating expenses, such as guard salaries, is troubling. The United States has never paid such expenses in the past, considering them to be a Russian responsibility. Nonetheless, we are looking for ways to help individual sites cope by providing winter clothing for some guards and subsidizing several commissaries to ensure that guards are fed while on duty. The costs are modest and clearly a worthwhile investment.