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Dutch gear up for nuke security summit
Rob Anderson: (JP/Yohanna Ririhena)The Netherlands will be hosting a two-day summit in the Hague, where 58 world leaders will assemble to make specific agreements on preventing nuclear terrorism
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Rob Anderson: (JP/Yohanna Ririhena) (JP/Yohanna Ririhena)
Rob Anderson: (JP/Yohanna Ririhena)
The Netherlands will be hosting a two-day summit in the Hague, where 58 world leaders will assemble to make specific agreements on preventing nuclear terrorism.
The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), which will take place on March 24-25, will be aiming to ensure that global cooperation can be conducted effectively among the countries.
US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be among the heads of state and government representatives from the 53 countries that have been invited to the NSS, along with the heads of four international organizations: the United Nations, the European Union, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Interpol.
The world leaders are expected to be accompanied by 5,000 delegates, while 3,000 journalists are expected to cover the event.
The NSS is aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism by reducing the amount of dangerous nuclear material in the world, improving the security of existing nuclear material and strengthening international cooperation.
Dutch diplomat Rob Anderson, who shared his insights on the NSS process to a group of international journalists, said the Netherlands had a big stake in hosting the NSS.
The country is known for its commitment to peace, justice and security around the world. 'As one of few countries in the world, enshrined in our constitution, we promote the international legal order,' said Anderson, who will be acting as the media liaison for the summit.
As a major transshipment hub in Europe, the Netherlands has one of the largest airports in Europe, Schiphol, and the biggest seaport, Rotterdam. 'We believe it is important to prevent nuclear terrorism. Many goods and people pass through the port of Rotterdam and Schiphol airport, increasing the risk that our country could be used for the transit of smuggled nuclear material,' he said.
Besides these two factors, the Netherlands has also a substantial nuclear industry in Petten, which supplies medical isotopes for patient care worldwide.
As much as 30 percent of medical isotopes worldwide and 60 percent in Europe are made in Petten. 'We have a large stakes because of our industry, geographical location and tradition of promoting peace,' Anderson told The Jakarta Post.
The NSS is expected to produce a 'compelling joint communiqué' to enhance international cooperation to protect nuclear materials and ensure these vulnerable materials do not fall into the hands of terrorists.
However, Anderson added a cautionary note, saying expectations in the NSS' results should be realistic, as it was a multilateral process where decisions were made by consensus.
'We should be managing expectations given the context that is about building more progress in strengthening international cooperation among governments, industries and regulators,' he said.
The NSS was initiated by President Obama, who pointed out the dangers of nuclear terrorism in a speech he gave in Prague in 2009. The first NSS was held in Washington, DC in 2010, followed by a second summit in Seoul, South Korea, in March 2012.
Since the Washington summit in 2010, agreements have been made to better secure hazardous nuclear material, namely highly enriched uranium and plutonium.
At the 2012 Seoul summit, the participants discussed the progress made and added to the agenda the security of radioactive sources used for 'dirty bombs'.
