Sunday, May 2, 2010

No fighting in the war room

Twelve of the 47 nations attending the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC were Asian. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reportedly gave the keynote address at the working dinner on the first night.

Eleven of these countries issued national statements or commitments outlining what they planned to do to lessen the risks of nuclear annihilation.

The Summit's attendees approved a Communique to advance a common approach and commitment to nuclear security. Leaders in attendance renewed their commitment to ensure that nuclear materials under their control are not stolen or diverted for use by terrorists, and pledged to continue to evaluate the threat and improve the security as changing conditions may require, and to exchange best practices and practical solutions for doing so.

The United States pledged to promote sustainable domestic nuclear security programs; minimize highly enriched uranium; plutonium disposition; ratifying international convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the physical Protection of Nuclear Material; develop new neutron detection technologies; voluntary fund for UN Security Council Resolution 1540; and fund Nuclear Security Programme of IAEA.

Many states made commitments to support the Summit either by taking national actions to increase nuclear security domestically or by working through bilateral or multilateral mechanisms to improve security globally. Eleven of the 12 Asian nations attending issued national statements or commitments at the Summit.

Links to these statements and who was the country representative are as follows. Unfortunately, most national statements cannot be found on the Internet and many of the links below are simply to articles about them.

CHINA

Representative of China: Hu Jintao, President of China
Announced cooperation on nuclear security Center of Excellence

INDIA

Representative of India: Dr, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
Announced the creation of a Nuclear Energy Center with a nuclear security component

INDONESIA

Representative of Indonesia: Dr, Boediono, Vice President
The final agreement is still being drafted. Indonesia will keep its position based on their basic principles.

JAPAN

Representative of Japan: Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan
Launching an integrated regional support center; research and development on detection and forensics; contributing new resources to International Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Security Fund; hosting and funding a World Institute of Nuclear Security best practices conference.

KAZAKHSTAN

Representative of Kazakhstan: Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of 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

MALAYSIA

Representative of Malaysia: Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia
Passed new export control law.

NEW ZEALAND

Representative of New Zealand: John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand
Contributing to International Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Security Fund; contributing to the U.S. Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative.

PHILIPPINES

Representative of Philippines: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of Philippines
Joining the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

SINGAPORE

Representative of Singapore: Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister
Strategic Goods (Control) Act (SGCA) includes a catch-all provision, brokering controls, sharing of intelligence with other countries, and controls on the Intangible Transfer of Technology (ITT). Singapore has adopted a number of Regulations and administrative measures. Singapore also complies with FATF guidelines to combat proliferation financing.

SOUTH KOREA

Representative of Korea: Myung-bak Lee, President
Hosting 2012 Nuclear Security Summit; hosting a Global Initiative activity.

THAILAND

Representative of Thailand: Trairong Suwannakhiri, Deputy Prime Minister
Joining the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

VIETNAM

Representative of Vietnam: Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam
Converting a highly enriched uranium research reactor; joining the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

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