The U.S. Bio-Chem Redirect Program
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The Bio-Chem Redirect Program (BCR) is a targeted nonproliferation initiative funded by the Department of State's Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Initiatives (NADR) account. BCR engages former Soviet biological and chemical weapons scientists in transparent and sustainable civilian research projects with U.S. collaborators. While the BCR program is most active in Russia, it also funds projects in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. New projects are being considered for funding in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan. The program has received from Congress a total of $85 million since its inception.
BCR is overseen and coordinated by the State Department Nonproliferation Bureau's Office of Proliferation Threat Reduction (NP/PTR), which provides funds to three U.S. agencies to implement the program: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These agencies work through the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) to implement the program. The BCR program supports the following expenses: project salaries for Eurasian scientists possessing dual-use expertise; limited purchases of project-relevant laboratory equipment and reagents; and travel expenses for Eurasian scientists related to legitimate project needs, including scientific conferences, training, and meetings with their U.S. collaborators.
The program's primary nonproliferation mission is to redirect these Eurasian scientists to long-term sustainable activities in the civilian sphere. In addition, the program meets important U.S. research objectives in the following areas: global public health, livestock and plant health, environmental monitoring and remediation, and measures to combat biological and chemical terrorism.