‘Nuclear terrorism is not impossible‘

‘Nuclear terrorism is not impossible’

By Park Si-soo

The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit will start today for a two-day run, during which leaders from 58 countries and international organizations will adopt concrete measures to prevent any weapons-use nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists.

The summit is the largest-scale and highest-level meeting that Korea has ever hosted. Participating leaders include President Lee Myung-bak, host of the summit, U.S. President Barrack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko.

Heads of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Union and Interpol will also attend the meeting to contribute to reinforcing the world’s nuclear security.

The leaders are accompanied by nearly 10,000 delegates and reporters, according to the summit’s preparatory secretariat.

Lee will chair a general meeting Tuesday, playing a key role to address the meeting’s key agenda items: nuclear threat responses, physical protection of nuclear material and facilities, illicit nuclear trafficking prevention, and strengthening the management of radiological materials. Other major issues include nuclear forensics and the protection of sensitive information.

The Seoul Communique, will be announced at the end of the summit by Lee.

Officials said the document will include political pledges to "significantly reduce" stocks of weapons-use nuclear materials, particularly highly-enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium, and detailed action plans.

It will also include putting into force the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM), strengthening education and training through the establishment of Centers of Excellence, and the conversion of nuclear reactors from running on HEU to low-enriched uranium (LEU).

“Nuclear security threats are real and immediate, and must be addressed,” said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.

Experts say South Korea is not free from nuclear terrorism, citing the country’s closeness to nuclear-armed North Korea.

“I would say it (nuclear terrorism) is not impossible,” said Graham Allison, a professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. “How could a (nuclear) bomb explode in Seoul? I think it would come from North Korea or would come in a covered mechanism."

Experts also voice concerns about the vulnerability of radioactive materials stored at civilian facilities.

The amount of plutonium stored at civilian facilities worldwide is enough to make more than 30,000 nuclear weapons, according to Frank von Hippel, a nuclear physicist and professor of public and international affairs at Princeton University.

As of mid 2011, the scientist said, the global stock of HEU amounts to about 1,400 tons, which is enough for more than 5,000 nuclear weapons. The global stock of separated plutonium amounts to about 500 tons as of mid 2011, he added.

A sense of urgency to reinforce security of civilian facilities with fissile materials has been felt in recent years as the number of attempts to steal weapons-use nuclear material has increased.

In 2009 alone, there were 215 attempts to steal material reserved for power generation, medical or other commercial purposes, according to the IAEA.

The Seoul summit comes amid an accelerating reduction of military nuclear weapons. The United States is leading the move. This is expected to put pressure on other nuclear-armed nations, including Russia, France, China and Britain among others, to follow suit.