The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is awarding a contract to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in support of efforts to engage national government scientists, engineers and technologists from the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic China in a Track II cooperative dialogue regarding improvements and innovation in science and technology (S&T) for arms control, treaty verification, and nuclear materials processes and systems security.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency proposes to support a set of two formal dialogues to address the complex and evolving S&T technical challenges, to implement current and emerging applications and approaches, and to provide confidence building measures to assure reciprocal information gathering and implementation. These dialogues then can be used to inform and encourage formal policies to advance arms control initiatives and international security.
The NAS Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) conducts unique Track II bilateral dialogues with Russia, China, and India, convening technical, military, and policy experts to address nuclear (and bio and cyber) security problems from a technical perspective and identifies the most promising opportunities for collaboration through official channels.
The CISAC dialogue can include many issues that are too politically sensitive to be addressed now through formal government-to-government channels, so CISAC facilitate the U.S. agencies’ progress toward U.S. goals.
In addition, these CISAC nuclear dialogues are intended to address topics of science and technology associated with arms control, treaty monitoring, and verification protocols for current and future nuclear treaties, and are intended to explore and build confidence measures for actions which might be taken by the cooperating governments, enhance international security and arms control, and promote future arms control treaties.
Source: FBO.gov
