The Emerging Nuclear Security Regime: Challenges Ahead

Abstract

Several measures are being initiated by the international community to secure sensitive materials. Al Qaeda's open interest in acquiring nuclear weapons and the rise of terrorist activity in nuclear-armed Pakistan have triggered a global interest in the need to secure nuclear weapons and materials. In April 2010 President Obama invited some key countries and international organisations in Washington to frame a new regime for nuclear security. The emerging regime includes some older initiatives as well as some new mechanisms, and it must address a number of issues. These range from defining nuclear security threats to finding the right kind of institution promoting nuclear security. The enthusiasm for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit will depend on how the participating countries and the international community deal with these challenges.

Notes

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3. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Work Plan of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit’, April 13, 2010, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/work-plan-washington-nuclear-security-summit.

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5. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Communiqué of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit’.

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7. Ibid.

8. The International Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Security Guidelines, at http://www-ns.iaea.org/security/nuclear_security_series.asp?s=5&l=35.

9. The International Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Security, at http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/NuclearSecurity/.

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11. Pervez Hoodbhoy, South Asia, at http://vimeo.com/album/1468176/video/16506912; and Robert Gallucci, ‘Opening Remarks and Opening Keynote: The Nuclear Terrorism Threat’, at http://vimeo.com/16503339.

12. Interview with government officials involved in the Sherpa meetings before the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit.

13. Hillary Rodham Clinton, ‘Remarks on Nuclear Nonproliferation at the University of Louisville as Part of the McConnell Center's Spring Lecture Series’, April 9, 2010, at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/04/139958.htm.

14. The White House, Office of Press Secretary, ‘Key Facts about the Nuclear Security Summit’, April 13, 2010, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/key-facts-about-national-security-summit.

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17. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Work Plan of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit’.

18. The International Atomic Energy Agency, General Conference, Board of Governors, Report by the Director General, ‘Nuclear Security Plan 2010--2013’, GOV/2009/54-GC(53)/18, August 2009, at http://www-ns.iaea.org/downloads/security/nuclear-security-plan2010--2013.pdf.

19. Todd Masse, ‘Nuclear Terrorism Redux: Conventionalists, Skeptics, and the Margin of Safety’, Orbis, 54(2), 2010, pp. 302–319.

20. Based on the author's participation in the seminar and interactions with relevant actors dealing with nuclear security in the US.

21. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Nuclear Security Summit: National Statement of the United States’, April 13, 2010, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/nuclear-security-summit-national-statement-united-states.

22. World Association of Nuclear Operators, ‘Mission’, at http://www.wano.info/.

23. Based on interactions and reports.

24. United Nations Treaty Collection, International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, at http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?&src=IND&mtdsg_no=XVIII-15&chapter=18&Temp=mtdsg3&lang=en#EndDec.

25. The International Atomic Energy Agency, ‘Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material’, at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Conventions/cppnm_status.pdf.

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27. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Work Plan of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit’.

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29. Li Bin, ‘China and Nuclear Transparency’, at http://irchina.org/en/xueren/china/pdf/lb1.pdf.

30. The US Department of Energy, Environmental Science Division, Highly Enriched Uranium Transparency Program, at http://www.evs.anl.gov/project/dsp_fsdetail.cfm?id=74.

31. The White House, Office of Press Secretary, ‘Work Plan of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit’.

32. The International Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Forensics Support, IAEA Nuclear Security Series No. 2, 2006, at http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1241_web.pdf.

33. Ibid.

34. Ibid.

35. Ibid.

36. American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Nuclear Forensics: Role, State of the Art, and Program Needs, Report of Nuclear Forensics Working Group of the American Physical Society's Panel on Public Affairs and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2010, p. ii, at http://cstsp.aaas.org/files/Complete.pdf.

37. National Research Council of the National Academies, Committee on Nuclear Forensics, Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board, Division on Earth and Life Studies, Nuclear Forensics: A Capability at Risk, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2010, p. 4.

38. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Work Plan of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit’.

39. Interview with an international diplomat who participated in the Sherpa meeting for the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit.

40. Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, Statement of Anil Kakodkar at the 53^rd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, September 16, 2009, at http://www.dae.gov.in/gc/gc2009.htm.