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U.S. Assists Lithuania in Launching a Mass-Destruction Materials Detection and Data Transfer System at the Vilnius International Airport

February 4, 2004

On Thursday, 5 February 2004, at 15.00h, high-ranking representatives of various Lithuanian institutions, the Vilnius Airport Administration, Mr. Paul M. Longsworth, Deputy Administrator of the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Office of the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration, and the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Stephen D. Mull, will participate in the opening ceremony of the new Vilnius International Airport mass-destruction materials detection and data transfer system.

The speakers of the ceremony will announce the launch of sophisticated detection equipment at Vilnius Airport and lead a tour of the facility (no cameras will be allowed in sensitive areas). This will be an opportunity for media representatives to see a demonstration of the technology.

The project was coordinated by the U.S. companies MELE Associates and Canberra Aquila Inc. and a Lithuanian Closed Joint Stock company INTA. The over all cost of the project is $4 M. Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The project was coordinated with the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of the Interior, Vilnius Airport Administration, State Border Guard Service, Lithuanian State Security Department, and various committees of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

Background information:

On 10 October 2002, an inter-governmental Agreement between Lithuania and the United States was signed in Vilnius.  The agreement created cooperation and development opportunities in WMD proliferation prevention. Based on the Decree of the President of the Republic of Lithuania signed on 25 February 2003, the agreement was ratified in the Lithuanian Seimas on 24 March 2003.

In accordance with the agreement, the United States Government pledges to assist Lithuania in preventing proliferation, transfer, and illicit trafficking of WMD, including technologies, the know-how, and nuclear, biological, and chemical materials. Ensuring non-proliferation of WMD and related materials and technologies is one of the most important priorities of the NATO countries.  Similar agreements have been signed between the U.S. and Latvia and Estonia.

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a semi-autonomous agency of the U.S. Department of Energy.  It enhances U.S. national security through the military application of nuclear energy, maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, promotes international nuclear nonproliferation and safety, reduces global danger from weapons of mass destruction, provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion, and oversees its national laboratories to maintain U.S. leadership in science and technology.

The NNSA Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation:

http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/na-20/

Deputy Administrator of the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Office of the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Paul M. Longsworth’s biography: http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/na-20/bio_longsworth.shtml

More information on other U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration projects worldwide: http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/press.asp