NSSPI collaborates with the U.S. DOE and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on projects for the Global Cooperation and Engagement Program (formerly the Sister Laboratory Program). This program is one mechanism by which the U.S. provides technical assistance in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to Non-Nuclear Weapon States.

In support of the Sister Laboratory Program, Dr. Charlton traveled to Libya as part of a delegation to re-focus former weapons scientists to peaceful uses of atomic energy.
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In the early 1980s, the United States launched a new initiative to establish cooperative institutional relationships between its own nuclear research laboratories and those in developing nations that have supported the NPT. Mexico was the first beneficiary of the sister laboratory program when its National Institute of Nuclear Research was paired with Los Alamos National Laboratory in March 1982. Today the list of countries with sister lab arrangements in place include Argentina, Costa Rica, Ghana, Romania, Thailand, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Brazil, and Peru. Five national laboratories participate in the program: Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Sandia, Oak Ridge, and Argonne. Participating universities include the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California at Davis, Texas A&M University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Missouri.

These arrangements generally provide for the following:

• exchange of scientific and technical information;
• short visits by expert teams or individuals to U.S. labs or their foreign counterparts;
• longer-term personnel assignments, ranging from one week to six months;
• exchange of samples, materials, instruments, and components;
• training of scientific and technical personnel through fellowships, seminars, or courses; and various collaborative projects.

The sister labs program establishes a direct line of communication between U.S. nuclear specialists and the nuclear research and scientific communities in participating countries and helps to facilitate cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. (Information on the Sister Laboratory/Global Cooperation and Engagement Program obtained from the Bureau of Nonproliferation website).