Press Release of Senator Lugar Nunn-Lugar Update June 2008 Wednesday, July 16, 2008 U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar announced that the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program made the following progress in June 2008:   ·           10 Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) destroyed; and ·           6 train shipments of nuclear weapons were sent to safe and secure storage.   The ten ICBMs destroyed were SS-25 “Sickle” missiles, similar to the United States’ Minuteman ICBMs, and could carry one warhead each. With a range of 6,500 miles, these weapons posed a more dangerous threat than traditional silo-based ICBMs because their mobility allowed them to be fired from nearly any location, avoiding the threat of counterstrike attack.   The Nunn-Lugar scorecard now totals 7,292 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated, 708 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) destroyed, 496 ICBM silos eliminated, 131 ICBM mobile launchers destroyed, 631 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) eliminated, 456 SLBM launchers eliminated, 30 nuclear submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles destroyed, 155 bomber eliminated, 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles (ASMs) destroyed, 194 nuclear test tunnels eliminated, 394 nuclear weapons transport train shipments secured, upgraded security at 16 nuclear weapons storage sites, and built and equipped 15 biological monitoring stations.  Perhaps most importantly, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program.  Those countries were the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers in the world.   Beyond nuclear, chemical and biological elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program has worked to reemploy scientists and facilities related to weapons of mass destruction in peaceful research initiatives. The International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, engaged 58,000 former weapons scientists in peaceful work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has funded 750 projects involving 14,000 former weapons scientists and created some 580 new peaceful high-tech jobs.   Lugar makes annual oversight trips to Nunn-Lugar sites in the former Soviet Union and Albania. Lugar and former Sen. Sam Nunn visited Russia, Ukraine and Albania in August 2007 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar program.   On the web: The Nunn-Lugar program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/ The Nunn-Lugar scorecard: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/scorecard.html   ###