Buffett giving $50 million to stop nuke spread
By Fredrik Dahl
updated 12/3/2010 4:01:44 PM ET
VIENNA— Saying weapons of mass
destruction are the biggest problem facing
mankind, billionaire Warren Buffett
on Friday said he was putting up $50 million
for a new initiative aimed at preventing the
spread of atomic bombs as more countries
seek nuclear energy.
His donation was matched by the United States
and other governments, bringing the total to
$150 million for the plan, which was approved
by member states of the U.N. nuclear agency in
Vienna on Friday.
"Throughout my lifetime I will be interested in
this subject and I will back that interest up
with money," Buffett told Reuters. "If the
project sounds like a good one and has any
real chance of reducing the probabilities of the
terrible use of nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons, I'm prepared to put up significant
money."
"Something can come up that requires a
million dollar or something can come up that
requires a $100 million," he added.
Proponents say the initiative could help meet
growing demand from dozens of countries,
some in the conflict-prone Middle East, for
technical help in launching nuclear energy
The uranium needed as fuel for nuclear
reactors can also be enriched to high levels
and provide material for bombs, making the
technology especially sensitive.
Approval of the plan was a priority for the
Obama administration, which has set itself an ambitious nuclear
disarmament agenda and has a declared vision
of eventually ridding the world of atomic
weapons.
It comes at a time when the new START
nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia
faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate.
Buffett, one of President Barack Obama's
closest defenders in the business community,
said the pact was "enormously important" and
he believed it would be ratified.
Asked about Obama's vision of a world free of
nuclear arms, he said: "It has to be achievable
over a very long period of time ... it is the
number one problem of mankind."
"We really have to prevent weapons of
tremendous potential harm being used by
these people who have evil intentions," he
added. "This is not a problem that we can wish
away."
The chairman and chief executive of Berkshire
Hathaway Inc., Buffett unexpectedly
announced in 2006 he would give away the
bulk of his fortune, worth about $40 billion,
mostly to the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.
