Fifty-eight world leaders will be in Seoul, Korea Monday and Tuesday to agree on ways to prevent nuclear terrorism.

Since when have we ever seen a nuclear terrorist incident?

True, nuclear terrorism is an extremely low probability scenario but its consequences are unimaginable.

Still, the threat is certainly real because terrorist groups including al-Qaeda are believed to pursue weapons of mass destruction. And an international consensus exists on the threat. More sobering is that there’s enough nuclear materials in the world to make 100,000 additional nuclear bombs.

Who really cares except a select group of policy wonks?

By agreeing to chair this summit, the largest Seoul has ever hosted, Korea has entered tough waters. It would, and still, puzzle many: nuclear terrorism is still a foreign concept for Koreans, they don’t have nuclear weapons or fissile materials, and security is always framed in the context of their number one threat, North Korea, which does not even make it on the Summit agenda, though for good reason. So the lack of initial interest and awareness is natural. The other problem is the lack of public outreach and education on the issue ahead of the Summit and amid this increasingly globalized and interconnect world – but this is true for all countries, not just Korea...

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, nuclear terrorism, Seoul, nuclear security, Nukes on a Blog (all tags)

An international group of dignitaries called the Eminent Persons Group met with Korean President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday, November 29 in Seoul and adopted a joint statement (full text below) on how to make the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit a success.  The Presidential Office says the group expressed their strong support for the summit and recommended six ways to make it a success:

1.    Achieve progress in the 2010 Washington Summit commitments;

2.    Devise a workable vision and implementation measures for nuclear security via the Seoul Communiqué;

3.    Secure detailed country commitments from summit participants;

4.    Restore confidence in nuclear power wrought by Fukushima and actively seek ways to deal with radiological terrorism;

5.    Strengthen international and regional cooperation to deal with illegal smuggling of nuclear materials;

6.    Maintain momentum by ensuring a 3rd summit.

The Eminent Persons Group is comprised of:

Kang Chang Sun (ROK), Oh Myeong (ROK), Han Sung-joo (ROK), Graham Allison (US), Hans Blix (Sweden), Gareth Evans (Australia), Goh Chok Tong (Singapore), Igor Ivanov (Russia), A.P.J Abdul Kalam (India), Henry Kissinger (US), Shinichi Kitaoka (Japan), Li Zhaoxing (China), Sam Nunn (US), William Perry (US), Hubert Vedrine (France)

Below is the full text of the Joint Statement adopted by the Eminent Persons Group:

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Eminent Persons Group, President Lee Myung-bak, Joint Statement (all tags)

The Nautilus Institute ran a piece on November 22, 2011 written by yours truly on the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit and can be viewed here or here.

The gist of my piece is:

“There are clear ways in which Seoul can capitalize on its strengths to flavor the 2012 [Nuclear Security Summit] with a “Korean twist” as it maintains depth on key substantive issues that ensure the security of nuclear materials, parts, and facilities…The challenge lies in clearly demonstrating that the benefits outweigh the costs, and that states would have a national interest in further investing their political capital in nuclear security."

Click here to read more.

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, nuclear safety-security, radioactive sources, nuclear terrorism, North Korea, IAEA (all tags)

I co-authored an op-ed with Dr. Igor Khripunov in the Korea Times titled "Time to Think Nuclear Safety-Security" in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and in the run-up to the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.

Click here or here or click Read More.

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Nukes on a Blog, nuclear safety, nuclear security, Fukushima, 2012 Nuclear Security Summit (all tags)

Seoul and Washington began revising the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit draft Communiqué this week after participating states made their preliminary marks on it during the June Sous Sherpas (deputies) meeting in Seoul. Korea is the chair of the upcoming Summit and the U.S. was the 2010 Summit chair.

It is the second meeting of its kind following U.S. Sherpa Gary Samore’s (White House WMD policy coordinator) trip to Seoul in early May. (Click ‘Read More.’)

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Communique, Sherpa, Sous Sherpa (all tags)

I wrote an op-ed for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on March 18th on the implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. It can be found here.

There are two op-eds worth reading written by the Center's Board members:

Frank von Hippel at Princeton University wrote in the New York Times on March 23rd on the need to learn from the Fukushima disaster and reduce dangers around the world. He writes, "We therefore must make existing reactors safer, develop a new generation of safer designs and prevent nuclear power from facilitating nuclear proliferation. As tragic as the Fukushima disaster has been, it has provided a rare opportunity to advance those goals."

Matthew Bunn at Harvard University wrote in the Washington Post on March 23rd on ways to reduce a Fukushima-like disaster elsewhere. He writes, "Ultimately, regular independent, international reviews should be the norm in nuclear operations worldwide. All countries must demonstrate that they are doing everything practicable to prevent the next Fukushima — or something far worse."

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2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Japan, Fukushima, Daiichi, nuclear safety, radioactive materials (all tags)