May 29, 2014

35 COUNTRIES SIGN ON TO NUCLEAR SECURITY PLEDGE AT SUMMIT

By ExchangeMonitor

Thirty-five nations at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Netherlands have agreed to an initiative that would strengthen the international nuclear security architecture. In a joint statement drafted by the U.S., South Korea and The Netherlands, the countries agreed to implement nuclear security recommendations from the International Atomic Energy Agency and engage in peer reviews to beef up nuclear security practices. The effort was viewed as an attempt at establishing a global nuclear security architecture, which experts have suggested has been lacking. The provisions in the joint statement are the “closest things we have to international standards for nuclear security,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told reporters at the summit.

The pledge was signed by several countries that possess nuclear weapons and nuclear materials, including the United Kingdom, France, Israel, and Kazakhstan, but included several notable omissions, including Russia, China, India, and Pakistan. “The initiative shows commitment to take the lead when it comes to voluntary implementation of a number of IAEA recommendations and guidelines,” former Dutch Ambassador to the IAEA John Bernhard said in a statement. “Hopefully, there will be an ambitious follow-up in the United States in 2016 aiming at the continuous improvement of nuclear security.”

In other news at the summit, the U.S., Belgium, France, Germany and South Korea agreed to accelerate the development and qualification of new high-density low-enriched uranium fuel that could help convert research reactors from using highly enriched uranium. The countries—with the exception of Germany—have been working together since 2012 on the effort, which is focused on uranium molybdenum that could be used as a monolithic fuel foil and as a powder in an aluminum matrix, but in a joint statement, they said the process would be “strengthened by intensified and coordinated collaboration that will contribute directly to the ultimate goal of minimizing HEU in civilian use. Cooperation and support from the international community are crucial for making available LEU fuel that is suitable for high performance research reactors, and we agree to share the benefits of all technology developed together in this joint effort, with conditions to be set out in due time.”

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