Top Secret: Chile removes uranium stockpile reduces safety threat

President Obama recognizes that the only way to stop impending nuclear threats is to create an opportunity for other countries to follow in the footsteps of the two major powers in the world, the US and Russia. If each country decreases stockpiles of nuclear arms, the two leaders feel that the tension created by aggravated threats will lessen and the likelihood for peace stands tall above the threat of war. Chile has become a prime example of how small countries can play a big part in making the world safer.

"We are happy to see it go,"

Fernando Lopez of the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission told The Associated Press, which exclusively witnessed the secret transfer of the material from reactors near Santiago to the United States.

The U.S. has already helped convert or verified the shutdown of 67 reactors in 32 countries from HEU to low-enriched uranium, or LEU, which is much harder to weaponize. It also has secured HEU supplies in more than 750 vulnerable buildings and removed 2,691 kilograms of weapons-grade nuclear material for safer storage. To help keep his promise, Obama has proposed a 68 percent increase in the Global Threat Reduction Initiative's budget to $559 million for fiscal year 2011, not only to recover more HEU but also to prevent smuggling of nuclear material by strengthening export and border controls and port security. Next year's $2.7 billion budget for nuclear nonproliferation work begins to do this for plutonium as well, committing $300 million for a plant at Savannah River to convert 34,000 kilograms of plutonium recovered from warheads to fuel for nuclear power.