The nuclear industry will continue its nuclear security efforts regardless of the status of multilateral political action, Jack Edlow, chairman of the Nuclear Industry Summit (NIS) 2016 International Board of Advisors, said this week.
Edlow spoke to reporters on a conference call about the NIS, an official side event to the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit.
The NIS will be held March 30-31 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., and is expected to bring together approximately 300 industry leaders to discuss the security role of the nuclear industry. This event precedes the Nuclear Security Summit on March 31-April 1, where representatives of over 50 countries and four international organizations will gather at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to discuss the prevention of nuclear terrorism.
This year’s Nuclear Security Summit will be the last to occur under the Obama administration and follows summits held in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Previous summits led to commitments by member states to work together in securing nuclear material – later radiological material as well – and reduce the use of weapon-usable highly enriched uranium and plutonium.
Edlow said this year’s participants will discuss the work of three NIS working groups that addressed key issues: securing the use, storage, and transport of strategic nuclear and radiological materials; managing the cyber threat; and the role of the nuclear industry globally. The working groups are expected to report their findings and recommendations at the event.
On the first working group, Edlow said NIS participants “endeavor to minimize the use of [highly enriched uranium] through the conversion from HEU to [low-enriched uranium] fuel in research reactors where technically and economically feasible.” The NIS will honor delegations from 17 countries for the total removal of highly enriched uranium, including Brazil, Hungary, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Edlow said the working group on the role of the nuclear industry is particularly important “because it outlines and shows the many, many uses of radioactive materials throughout the world,” including for human health, food and nutrition, environment and sustainability, electricity and power, industry and consumer products, and public safety.
A joint statement encompassing the work of the three groups will be presented on April 1 from industry to world leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit. “This is industry’s contribution to the global effort to show the leaders that their policies which they established are accepted by and will be implemented by the industry,” Edlow said. He said that as it concerns nuclear security, “even if the leaders don’t meet again in the future, the industry will continue.”
