Current Affairs-2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit

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SEOUL – Leaders of 53 countries and four international organisations agreed in Seoul on Tuesday to implement specific plans and action to prevent nuclear terrorism and ensure atomic energy safety.

The two-day 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit closed on Tuesday afternoon at COEX in southern Seoul where South Korean President Lee Myung-bak held the Chair’s press conference to announce the results of the summit.

“The leaders unanimously adopted the Seoul communique, the official document of the summit,” Lee told reporters.

“This summit’s core accomplishment concerns the reduction of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium which is of the greatest significance in preventing nuclear terrorism.”

It was a major achievement that Ukraine and Mexico decided to completely eliminate HEU, he said.

Regarding concerns about the possibility of trafficking of nuclear materials from North Korea and Iran, Lee said the international community would closely cooperate in tracking nuclear sources.

The Seoul Communique, adopted by the 58 participating countries and international organizations including the UN, IAEA, EU and Interpol, called for further minimising HEU and plutonium, enhancing protection of atomic energy facilities and preventing trafficking of nuclear materials.

The communique encouraged summit participants to adhere to international conventions in the area of nuclear security, including the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

It also called on the states to voluntarily announce and take specific actions to minimise the use of HEU by 2013 and addressed transportation security to prevent theft of nuclear materials by terrorists.

US President Barack Obama, who initiated the Nuclear Security Summit in 2010, urged participants to continue fighting nuclear terrorism.

“There were those who questioned whether our nations could summon the will to confront one of the gravest dangers of our time,” Obama told the other leaders at the meeting, according to a transcript released by the White House.

“There was some skepticism that we would be able to sustain an effort around this topic. But that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Along with the communique, participating countries announced their individual goals to reduce or scrap civilian HEU.

Others vowed to convert military-purpose HEU into material for non-military purposes.