Nuclear Security Summit , 2016

• The fourth Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington DC which was attended by the leaders of more than 50 countries.
• The Nuclear Security Summit continue to provide a forum for leaders to engage with each other and reinforce their commitment at the highest levels to securing nuclear materials.
• The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, DC in 2010, and was followed by additional Summits in Seoul in 2012 and The Hague in 2014. These Summits have achieved tangible improvements in the security of nuclear materials and stronger international institutions that support nuclear security.
• The twin goals for the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit were: a) Advancing tangible improvements in nuclear security behavior ; b) Strengthening the global nuclear security architecture.
• Action Plans on nuclear security is endorsed for international organizations and institutions (International Atomic Energy Agency, United Nations, INTERPOL, Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, and Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction).

Analysis:
The goal of the NSS is to address concerns about fissile material falling into the wrong hands at a head-of-state level. It includes minimizing the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU), bolstering security at nuclear facilities through enhanced national regulations and implementation of best practices, enhanced membership in international instruments and organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), instituting measures to detect and prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, and Centers of Excellence, build capacity, develop technology and coordinate assistance on nuclear Security.
Achievements till now :

• Removal and/or disposition of over 3.2 metric tons of vulnerable HEU and plutonium material.
• Completely removing HEU from 12 countries – Austria, Chile, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Libya, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
• Verified shutdown or successful conversion to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel use of 24 HEU research reactors and isotope production facilities in 15 countries, including Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Completion of physical security upgrades at 32 buildings storing weapons-usable fissile materials.
• Installation of radiation detection equipment at 328 international border crossings, airports, and seaports to combat illicit trafficking in nuclear materials.

Limitations:

• There are some limitation of NSS because it covers nuclear material only for non-military purposes, 83% of the nuclear material falls outside its ambit.
• Despite its intent, the NSS has also not been able to amend the IAEA’s convention on nuclear safety.
• The fact that there is no legally binding outcome at the end of six years of NSS process is its major drawback. The NSS process has instead focused on asking countries to tighten their national laws, rules and capabilities on nuclear security. This has meant that military facilities are treated as national responsibilities and dealt as per international obligations.

Threats faced from terror outfits

• Security experts have identified at least four types of specific threats that terror outfits pose-
• These groups could acquire a nuclear weapon from the arsenal of a nuclear state.
• They could acquire enough fissile material to construct an improvised nuclear device.
• They could acquire radioactive material from civilian sources such as hospitals or university laboratories that could be mixed with conventional explosives to make a radioactive dispersal device or ‘dirty bomb.’
• Terror groups could also sabotage a nuclear facility leading to large-scale loss of lives and destruction.

India and NSS

• India has played an active role at the summits with the first two being attended by then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. As part of the house gift, India made a voluntary contribution of one million dollars to the Nuclear Security Fund and has established a Global Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCENEP), where more than a dozen national and international training programmes have been conducted so far.
• India is a source of nuclear material and a potential target of nuclear terrorism. While India takes pride in the security of its nuclear installations, ‘orphan sources’ i.e devices with radioactive materials outside regulatory and security measures could pose serious risks. According to a recent report by the Washington DC-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, India also has groups that want to acquire nuclear material. The report that ranked India low in nuclear security measures, cited corruption as a key reason that could compromise its nuclear facilities.
• In 2016 summit , Indian PM released India’s national progress report, which underlines the various steps the country has taken on nuclear security – updating export controls for companies manufacturing nuclear technology, taking “robust strides” towards implementing nuclear safeguards, setting up an inter-ministerial counter-smuggling team, using low-enriched uranium instead of high-enriched uranium (HEU) and shutting down the only reactor using HEU, setting up 23 response centres across the country to take care of any nuclear or radiological emergency and putting a cyber security architecture in place.
• Apart from doing things at home, India is also active on the international front. It announced a $1 million grant for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the lead organisation invested in strengthening nuclear security, in addition to the $1 million it contributed in 2013.

By: Vishal