This is the ninth of a series of interviews with ambassadors from countries participating in the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on March 26 and 27.— ED.
By Park Si-soo
Norway would like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to play a bigger part in nuclear security and safety. The Scandinavian country also believes international cooperation is crucial to reach these goals, demanding the international community provide the IAEA with the necessary backing and support.
“The nuclear threat did not disappear with the end of the Cold War, but remains as a grave danger today,” Torbjorn Holthe, Norwegian ambassador to Seoul, told The Korea Times. “Norway considers the strengthening of the role of the IAEA to be a key issue for the summit.”
In view of the expected growth in nuclear energy, the envoy said his country believes it is essential to safeguard nuclear materials and to ensure that efforts to promote nuclear security and safety are closely coordinated with the IAEA.
“It’s therefore vital that the international community provides the IAEA with the necessary political and financial support,” the ambassador said.
Norway has provided $3.3 million from 2010 to 2013 to fund the IAEA’s nuclear safety activities, which include strengthening nuclear safety expertise in developing countries, he said citing government statistics. He also took pride in his country’s vigorous participation in activities regarding nuclear non-proliferation and security, initiated by the United Nations and other international bodies.
The ambassador said international cooperation is another agenda item of great importance for Norway.
“There is much scope for improving the coordination of safety and security work, both multilaterally and nationally,” Holthe said. “Information sharing, both directly and through the IAEA, and not least the provision of accurate, timely and relevant information to the public at large are crucial in this respect.”
The envoy said Norway will try hard to address the issue of stable management of highly enriched uranium (HEU) during the summit.
“We hope and trust that the summit will direct political attention to these issues and provide new momentum,” he said. “In particular we hope to see new specific commitments undertaken to minimize the use of HEU and more generally to secure all nuclear materials.”
Asked about Norway’s plan to reduce the amount of radioactive material in use, the envoy said the reduction is important to the full spectrum of issues. He said Norway has, for a number of years, advocated minimizing the use of HEU in civilian nuclear installations.
“While we have guidelines for plutonium management, none have yet been adopted for HEU,” he said. “This is worrying and — as responsible members of the international community — we should take this challenge very seriously.”
Norway was a co-host of two international symposiums on minimizing the use of HEU, the first one in Oslo in 2006 and the second in Vienna in January this year.
The Norwegian ambassador said the Seoul summit will maintain steadfast political determination and international cooperation that are pivotal to “yield significant progress” in nuclear security.
“We have a good set of commitments from Washington, and future summits should further advance the agenda drawn up in Seoul and set out in the Seoul Communique,” he said.