The PMDA mandates both nations dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium by converting it to safer, non-weapons forms
Moscow
Russia’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday approved a move to withdraw from the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) with the United States, a landmark treaty aimed at reducing massive Cold War-era stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium.
Signed in 2000 and enforced in 2011, the PMDA required both nations to dispose of at least 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium each — enough for roughly 17,000 nuclear warheads. The agreement sought to convert plutonium into safer forms, such as mixed oxide fuel, or irradiate it in reactors for electricity production, reducing proliferation risk.
Russia suspended the pact in 2016, citing U.S. sanctions, NATO expansion, and unilateral changes in U.S. plutonium disposal methods. Moscow charged that Washington had breached the agreement by diluting rather than disposing of plutonium with Russian consent.
In Wednesday’s move, Russia said in a legislative note that “U.S. actions have fundamentally changed the strategic balance that prevailed at the time of the Agreement” and added new “threats to strategic stability.”
Russia and the United States together control around 8,000 nuclear warheads, far fewer than the Cold War peak of 73,000 in 1986. Critics warn that Russia’s withdrawal could undermine nuclear arms control and increase tensions between the two powers, adding another layer of instability to an already strained relationship.
This decision comes amid a broader deterioration in U.S.-Russia ties over sanctions, military confrontations, and geopolitical disputes.
