2ND NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT KICKS OFF IN SEOUL

The second Nuclear Security Summit begins today in Seoul, South Korea, and Obama Administration officials expect the gathering of world leaders to provide an opportunity to gauge progress since the first summit two years ago in Washington and continue to gather more nuclear security commitments from countries. In recent weeks, two high profile HEU cleanouts that were promised two years ago have been wrapped up—Mexico and the Ukraine—and the Department of Energy said yesterday that there will be an announcement with Belgium, France and the Netherlands on HEU minimization in the production of medical isotopes. President Obama was in South Korea yesterday and will attend the two-day summit along with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, NNSA Administrator Tom D’Agostino and NNSA nonproliferation chief Anne Harrington. At a press briefing with South Korea President Lee Myung-bak, Obama suggested that the recent announcement that all HEU had been removed from Ukraine is a “preview of the kind of progress we’re going to see over the next two days in confronting one of the most urgent challenges of global security—securing the world’s nuclear weapons and preventing nuclear terrorism.”