sentences:  The MPC&A came into place to help protect those nuclear materials from outside sources.This cooperation of Russia and the U.S allowed some ease between the nations and restore a level of security against nuclear threat.In an effort to improve the security of nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, then Acting Secretary of Energy Charles Curtis and Russian Minister of Atomic Energy and co-chairman of Atomic Energy Policy Viktor Mikhailov, one of the commission's eight committees signed a joint statement on February 7; that reaffirms each side's commitment to the bilateral nuclear materials protection, control and accounting (MPC&A) program and includes the Instrument Research Institute (Lytkarino) in the program beginning this year.