Press Contact: Peter Crail, Research Analyst, (202) 463-8270 x102
U.S. President Barack Obama hosted 47 national delegations as well as the heads of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. April 12-13, 2010.
The summit’s goal was to address the threat of nuclear terrorism by enhancing international cooperation to secure all weapons-useable nuclear material world-wide against theft in four years. President Obama first announced this goal in April 2009 in Prague, where he also called for steps towards a world without nuclear weapons. With 38 nations represented at the head of state or head of government level, the gathering was the largest of its kind hosted by a U.S. President since 1945.
There are over 2000 tons of plutonium and highly-enriched uranium in civilian and military use in dozens of countries, although much of this material is concentrated in the United States and Russia. There have also been 15 confirmed cases of unauthorized possession of fissile material documented by the IAEA’s Illicit Trafficking Database since 1993, primarily in the former Soviet Union. Since the 1990’s, a number of bilateral and multilateral initiatives, international agreements, and UN Security Council resolutions have been established to implement and bolster national nuclear security mechanisms.
In order to build upon these efforts, the summit concluded with a communiqué, which embraces the goal of securing all of the world’s vulnerable weapons-useable nuclear materials within four years, and a work plan, which identified existing international agreements and resources that are available to countries as they work to secure or eliminate their civilian stockpiles of this material.
The next nuclear security summit is scheduled to be held in 2012 in South Korea. Until that time, representatives from the summit participants will continue to meet to evaluate progress on the work plan.
|
The Communiqué
The Work Plan The Work Plan lays out the specific steps for realizing the goals of the Communiqué, including ratification and implementation of international treaties; support for Security Council Resolution 1540; conversion of civilian facilities from HEU to non-weapons-useable materials; research on new nuclear fuels; detection methods and forensic technologies; development of corporate and institutional cultures that prioritize nuclear security; education and training; and joint exercises among law enforcement and customs officials to enhance nuclear detection opportunities. |
|
Country Commitments In addition to signing the Communiqué and Work Plan, twenty-nine countries announced specific measures they have taken or plan to take to support the goals of the summit. Some of the key national commitments include: Canada: Returning a large amount of spent highly enriched uranium fuel from their medical isotope production reactor to the United States; championing the extension of the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction; funding highly enriched uranium removals from Mexico and Vietnam; hosting and funding a World Institute of Nuclear Security best practices workshop in Ottawa; unveiling $100 million in new bilateral security cooperation with Russia Chile: Removed all highly enriched uranium (18kgs) in March 2010 Kazakhstan: Converting a highly enriched uranium research reactor and eliminating remaining highly enriched uranium; cooperative work on BN-350 rector shutdown and fuel security; hosting a Global Initiative Activity in June; considering a International Nuclear Security Training Center. Mexico: Converting a highly enriched uranium research reactor and eliminating remaining highly enriched uranium working through IAEA Republic of Korea: Hosting 2012 Nuclear Security Summit; hosting a Global Initiative activity Russia: Signing Plutonium Disposition protocol; ending plutonium production; contributing to International Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Security Fund Ukraine: Removing all highly enriched uranium by next Summit—half of it by year’s end Vietnam: Converting a highly enriched uranium research reactor; joining the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom: Converting a highly enriched uranium research reactor; joining the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism See a full list of national commitments |