Representatives from more than 50 countries and four international organizations―the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the EU and the International Criminal Police Organization―attended the Second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul on March 26-27.
They met at a time when the horrors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last year continue to haunt the world and deadlock over the North Korean nuclear issue persists. Against this backdrop, the summit, originally designed to address the threat of nuclear terrorism, took on broader dimensions.
Slow progress
Since the Cold War came to an end in the early 1990s, nuclear terrorism has been one of the most pressing security concerns of the United States. In April 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama put forward his vision of a nuclear-free world in a speech in Prague. He said the international community should make new efforts to deal with nuclear terrorism and ensure the security of nuclear materials and related facilities. A year later, the United States hosted the First Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. with the aim of making nuclear security a global concern.
The United States insisted that the summit focus on nuclear terrorism, fissile material protection and the prevention of illegal trade in radiological substances, while the topics of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation were excluded. It invited only countries with high stakes in international nuclear security to the summit in the belief that it would be easier to reach consensus with these countries.
The summit also showed Washington’s other purposes. In addition to combating nuclear terrorism―the common challenge of the international community, Washington tried to make its own initiatives international rules. It also wanted to promote U.S.-dominated arms control policies worldwide. Moreover, it intended to strengthen cooperation with other countries, especially big powers such as Russia, China and the EU, to gain their support politically, economically and technically.
In a joint communiqué, participants of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit declared that nuclear terrorism is one of the most challenging threats to international security, and strong nuclear security measures are the most effective means to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear materials. They also adopted a work plan, which included agreements on more than 50 specific nuclear security cooperation measures in 11 fields. The summit met Washington’s expectations, as it thrust U.S. nuclear security concerns into the global spotlight.
But since views on nuclear terrorism vary greatly from country to country, agreements reached in Washington have not been effectively implemented in the last two years. For some countries, the task of fissile material protection is not as urgent as the United States and Russia. Efforts in Mexico, Russia and the United States to convert research reactors fueled by highly enriched uranium to use low enriched uranium have been unsuccessful due to technical and financial reasons.
In the meantime, however, regional nuclear issues have turned worse. Iran has produced uranium enriched to a purity level of 20 percent. North Korea has made public its light water reactor and uranium enrichment projects. Also, the Fukushima nuclear disaster has drawn much attention to the safety of civilian nuclear facilities. These new developments have distracted attention from Washington’s initiatives to combat nuclear terrorism and protecting fissile materials. Though nuclear terrorism is widely seen as a grave threat to the world, other countries have not completely followed Washington’s lead.
Given changes in the international nuclear security situation, two issues became prominent ahead of the Seoul summit. The first one is civilian nuclear facility security. When discussing the agenda of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, South Korea had different views with Western countries. It insisted civilian nuclear facility security be included because of radiation leaks at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011. Despite U.S. objection, organizers decided to combine the discussions of combating nuclear terrorism and protecting civilian nuclear facilities at the summit.
The second factor is the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Last year, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il visited China and Russia. North Korea also had talks with Japan. In July 2011, U.S.-North Korean talks resumed. The two sides finally reached an agreement in late February this year that Pyongyang would shelve its nuclear program in exchange for food aid from Washington. South Korea and the United States, however, continued to hold their annual joint military exercises. Ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula created negative repercussions on the Seoul summit.
China’s involvement
China calls for strengthened international cooperation to combat nuclear terrorism. At the UN Security Council Summit on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament in September 2009, President Hu Jintao stressed all UN member states should strictly observe international conventions and laws on nuclear security and take concrete steps for the protection of nuclear facilities and materials. In his speech at the Washington Nuclear Security Summit in 2010, President Hu said China attaches great importance to nuclear security, firmly opposes nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism and has made continuous efforts to that end.
The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which took effect in 1987, is the only legally binding international agreement on the protection of nuclear materials. The initial objective of the convention was protecting nuclear materials during international transportation. After an amendment in 2005, articles on the protection of civilian nuclear facilities and materials were added to the convention. China is a contracting party to the convention and approved the 2005 amendment in 2009.
China has long been a partner of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. The initiative aims to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear terrorism by conducting multilateral activities that strengthen the plans, policies, procedures and interoperability of partner nations. China also took an active part in the discussion and adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1540. The resolution has played an important role in promoting international non-proliferation cooperation and preventing non-state actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction since it was passed in 2004.
Since joining the IAEA in 1984, China has cooperated closely with the nuclear watchdog. Since 1998, China and the IAEA have jointly conducted at least 20 training and academic exchange programs. The IAEA has dispatched more than 20 experts to China, while more than 30 Chinese students have received IAEA training overseas. The IAEA also provides consultations to China on preventing and coping with radiation accidents. During the Beijing Olympic Games, the IAEA not only sent advisors to China but also provided equipment necessary to ensure nuclear security during the event.
Injustices in the international order, flaws in international conventions, non-state actors’covetousness of nuclear materials and the rapid growth of the nuclear energy industry have posed daunting challenges to global nuclear security. How to engage countries in a joint effort to cope with these challenges is no longer a simple technical issue but an important international political issue.