Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The commitment taken in The Hague by 35 countries (including the EU) to translate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) directives on the protection of nuclear material into national law, and to submit their procedures to independent monitoring, aims to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear material. China and Russia remain separate.
Among the 53 states participating in the nuclear security summit in The Hague (the third summit of its kind after those in Washington in 2010 and Seoul in 2012), 35 countries committed to transposing into national law the strictest IAEA guidelines on the protection of nuclear material. This transposition into national law will make the guidelines binding - both for public authorities and for research centres and companies. The programme adopted also provides for an independent assessment by international teams of experts of the effectiveness of each state's nuclear security measures.
The countries of the EU, and also Israel, Japan, Georgia and Ukraine, have committed to taking part in this programme - which was initiated by the organising countries of the three nuclear security summits (the USA, South Korea and the Netherlands). China, India, Pakistan and Russia are currently abstaining, while North Korea and Iran did not participate in the meeting.
Closing the summit (which was the result of a process started in 2010) on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said that this step towards the creation of an international legal framework to put an end to international nuclear terrorism was “essential” - although he stressed that the work was not finished. Since the Washington summit, the number of countries with over a kilo of military class fissile material needed to make a bomb has decreased from 35 to 29, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who was hosting the summit, was nevertheless pleased to state.
“The European Union is convinced that a multilateral approach is the best way to address global security challenges, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism (…). The European Union is united in its efforts to ensure the highest level of nuclear security”, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Tuesday, during his speech to the summit. In addition to the efforts made by the EU in cooperation with the IAEA in the face of the risk of nuclear terrorism, “further work is required to secure ALL nuclear material in ALL countries”, Van Rompuy continued, calling for “a collective endeavour, which goes beyond the countries represented in this room”. “[The EU] will continue to reach out and provide assistance. [The EU] will continue to encourage all states to adhere to international legal instruments”, he concluded. “The European Union remains strongly committed to reinforcing nuclear safety and security. I therefore urge that we continue with the strongest possible, common and truly global approach. We all stand to benefit from such progress”, said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
Three objectives were set at summit in The Hague - to strengthen international cooperation on nuclear security, to reduce the production of radioactive material, and to secure the stocks of nuclear materials through adhering to the strictest standards of the IAEA (see EUROPE 11045). (EH)