Nations participating in last week’s Nuclear Security Summit, the last of four under the Obama administration, issued joint pledges – known as “gift baskets” – on various aspects of nuclear security, some of which are set to be discussed at international conferences well after the conclusion of the summit process.
While the White House announced a new contact group through which experts from over 30 countries will continue to meet to discuss nuclear security work – addressing concerns over maintaining progress on this work in years ahead – states appeared to address these concerns through several gift baskets that offered specific milestones and timelines to measure progress on certain initiatives. Other gift baskets reaffirmed ideologies such as a call for total elimination of nuclear weapons, or hailed progress on initiatives such as the low-enriched fuel bank being established in Kazakhstan and the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A gift basket on the minimization of highly enriched uranium (HEU) use in civilian applications, signed by countries including Canada, Mexico, Poland, Sweden, and the U.S., called for the conversion or shutdown of HEU-fueled civilian reactors, the development of high-density low-enriched uranium fuels, and HEU fuel repatriation. Participating states expect to establish by the end of this year a voluntary reporting mechanism through the IAEA that will track states’ progress on these activities. These states will also convene at an international conference in 2018 to review progress, the statement said.
A cybersecurity gift basket committed a number of states to participation in two international workshops on the topic sometime this year, the findings of which will be presented at the IAEA International Conference on Nuclear Security this December. A consolidated reporting gift basket, supported by countries such as Australia, Belgium, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, and the U.S., promoted voluntary information sharing on initiatives that do not feature explicit reporting requirements. The gift basket offered a consolidated national nuclear security report mechanism as a template for states to fulfill reporting requirements under agreements such as the Convention on the Physical Security of Nuclear Material.
One of the gift baskets, supported by countries including China, Japan, Canada, and South Korea, aims to help strengthen the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Training and Support Centers network, which includes Centers of Excellence like the one recently opened in China. The gift basket offered the establishment of regional networks of such centers, and collaboration with educational institutions on the promotion of nuclear security culture throughout the network.
Over 30 nations joined a gift basket that involves designating a national team to bring together law enforcement, intelligence, and technical experts to investigate nuclear trafficking. Another gift basket brought together 30 countries to incorporate nuclear forensics into their national nuclear security response frameworks. A maritime supply chain security gift basket committed states with radiation detection systems at their seaports to sharing technical information and best practices to enhance nuclear material detection. A nuclear terrorism preparedness and resilience gift basket encouraged interagency coordination and bilateral information sharing for the development of national-level preparedness and response capabilities.
