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Nonproliferation Initiatives
CRDF's Nonproliferation Initiatives (NPI) program develops and implements innovative ways to encourage the participation of former weapons of mass destruction (WMD) scientists in CRDF grant programs. NPI provides targeted grants and financial support for projects and activities to assist former WMD scientists seeking to make a sustainable transition to the civilian sector.
Pilot Program Encouraging Russian Innovation
In July 2005, CRDF announced an $800,000 award to Russia’s Pushchino State University (PSU) for a Research and Innovation Center (RIC) pilot program. This program engages Russian scientists with bioweapons experience in environmental bioremediation and civilian biotechnology research and education and gives PSU students and young scientists access to experienced researchers. CRDF has provided three years’ worth of funding for salaries, equipment and related expenses.
Applying Lessons Learned from Chernobyl Remediation to Contamination in Iraq
In 2006, CRDF provided funding for former weapons scientists from Chernobyl’s International Radioecology Laboratory to gather and analyze soil samples gathered at Iraq’s Al Tuwaitha nuclear facility, which is widely believed to be contaminated with uranium dioxide, or yellow cake, and a variety of other radionuclides. This is part of a larger effort to study whether techniques developed to clean the more densely polluted Chernobyl can be applied in Iraq.
The Ukrainians also trained Iraqi technicians so that Iraq ultimately will have the capability of attaining IAEA international standards in decommissioning the reactors and decontaminating the Al Tuwaitha site. Additional funding for this effort is now being provided by the U.S. Department of State’s WMD Personnel Redirection Program in Iraq.
Training Kyrgyz Scientists to Address In-Country Disease Surveillance Issues
CRDF is implementing a training program with scientists at Louisiana State University on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for former weapons scientists in Kyrgyzstan. This initiative is introducing new civilian technical skills to scientists in Kyrgyzstan to allow them to better track infectious diseases and improve public health efforts in Kyrgyzstan. The effort will also link Kyrgyzstani scientists with scientists from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan who have been trained in GIS by DTRA and allow for regional networking and sharing of disease surveillance data as a way to address cross-border outbreaks.