Printer Friendly Page

Nuclear Security Summit Aims to Enhance Global Protection of Nuclear Materials

Megan McCourt
Kansas City Info Zine
April 7, 2010

Nuclear policy experts explained what to expect next week when President Obama hosts more than 40 world leaders at a summit to improve global nuclear security.

One of President Barack Obama's goals is to create a world free of nuclear weapons. This seemingly impossible goal may come closer to reality next week when Obama hosts 45 world leaders at the global Nuclear Security Summit.

Heads of state from Russia, China, Israel and Pakistan will discuss plans to secure nuclear materials, prevent their theft and stop attempts at nuclear terrorism on April 12 and 13.

At a press conference Tuesday, members of the Fissile Materials Working Group explained the goals and possible outcomes of the summit. The group is composed of 26 organizations that collaborate and provide recommendations on nuclear material control priorities to government officials.

The threat of nuclear terrorism is a very real possibility, said Matthew Bunn, a member of the FMWG steering committee and associate professor of public policy at Harvard University. Terrorist groups such as al-Qaida are constantly working to acquire nuclear materials, but there's no proof they have any, he said. If lax security allowed any terrorist organization to get nuclear material, it would create international concern.

"It's a global problem not limited to any one country," Bunn said. "All countries, including the United States, have work to do."

The two types of nuclear materials used in nuclear weapons are highly enriched uranium and plutonium. Nearly 40 countries have stockpiles of these materials, the largest being in Russia and the United States.

Establishing a consensus of the threat posed by nuclear materials is the No. 1 goal of the summit, said Kenneth Luongo, co-chair of FMWG and president of the Partnership for Global Security.

Another main objective of the summit is to get all countries to sign onto the major agreements for creating worldwide nuclear safety, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540, which prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Eleven of the countries attending the summit have signed the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, and 34 have signed the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

"I think the president would like to come out the other end with all the participating countries signed up to the key existing mechanisms," Luongo said.

One more treaty will be added Thursday when President Barack Obama joins Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as START. The treaty will last 10 years and cut about one-third of the nuclear weapons the two countries deploy.

"With this agreement, the United States and Russia - the two largest nuclear powers in the world - also send a clear signal that we intend to lead," Obama said at a press conference March 26. "By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities."

The responsibility of other nations to keep their nuclear materials secure is another major goal of the summit. Forming international security standards would be a desirable outcome of the summit, Luongo said. One goal will be to help countries develop specific plans for nuclear security.

"We need to move toward more stringent global standards," Luongo said. "We need a baseline everywhere."

At the end of the summit, a communiqué explaining what the countries have agreed to will be released.

Luongo listed several topics that are probably not going to be discussed at the summit. He predicted there would be no mention of specific problem countries or areas, no new initiatives, no new funding and no discussion of the threat of radiological terrorism, also known as dirty bombs.