NSOI: Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative | Bilateral Partners Engaged

NSOI is a U.S. government effort to enhance international partnerships to combat smuggling of nuclear and radioactive materials.

GEORGIA

NSOI first engaged Georgia in June 2006 and signed a joint action plan with the Government of Georgia in February 2007. In February 2009, the United States and Georgia signed an Addendum to the joint action plan to address the degradation of Georgia’s anti-nuclear smuggling capabilities resulting from the August 2008 conflict and additional needs that became apparent since the original joint action plan was signed. In July 2010, NSOI organized a conference in Tbilisi to review Georgia's recent progress in combating nuclear smuggling and to coordinate assistance efforts with international partners.

The joint action plan and Addendum include 65 priority steps to improve Georgian capabilities; approximately half of these steps involve ongoing efforts that need to be completed, and the other half involve new efforts that should be undertaken. The Georgian government has completed or made significant progress on nearly 95% of these steps.

The joint list of priority assistance projects includes four projects on radioactive sources, four on border and internal detection, three on improved communication and coordination among Georgian ministries, one on nuclear forensics, one on training and sustainability, and one on strengthening anti-smuggling laws.

The current fact sheets for Georgia can be found here. The fact sheets contain all relevant information about the purpose of the projects, the recipient ministries and agencies, the specific needs to be addressed, the activities to be undertaken, the objectives of the projects, and the status of current international funding.