World leaders pose for a group photo at the conclusion of the fourth Nuclear Security Summitin Washington, D.C. on April 1 (XINHUA)

The fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) wrapped up in Washington, D.C. on April 1, where leaders and envoys from 52 countries and four international organizations reached a consensus on continuing international efforts to strengthen nuclear security. The two-day meeting was the last in the series of summits initiated by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2010. Yet attendees pledged that international efforts will not come to an end amid continued security challenges and terrorist threats.

As Obama said in his much-lauded speech in Prague in 2009, delivered almost exactly seven years before the latest summit, nuclear terrorism is the most immediate and extreme threat to global security. After the first summit was held in Washington, D.C. in 2010, it was followed by the second in Seoul in 2012 and the third in the Hague in 2014.

Through these summits, the international community has achieved tangible improvements in preventing nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands and building a strong shield to safeguard nuclear security.

Nuclear security architecture

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his speech during the summit that "a more robust global nuclear security architecture featuring fairness and win-win cooperation is the prerequisite for the sound development of nuclear energy."

World leaders continued their discussion on evolving threats and highlighted steps that can be taken to "minimize the use of highly enriched uranium, secure vulnerable materials, counter nuclear smuggling and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism," according to a White House press statement outlining the goals of the summit.

Apart from concrete measures that were outlined in the Action Plan of the 2016 NSS, the United States, as stated in its press release, "seeks a strengthened global nuclear security architecture that is comprehensive, is based on international standards, builds confidence in nations' nuclear security implementation, and results in declining global stocks of nuclear weapons-usable materials."

Despite the possible end of the six-year-old NSS process, world leaders have agreed to continue working together on this issue of global concern in other forms. In a joint communiqué issued at the end of the summit, world leaders affirmed that "the communiqués from the 2010, 2012 and 2014 summits and the Work Plan of the 2010 summit will continue to guide our efforts as we endeavor to fully implement them."

The leaders also stressed the role of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other entities in collaborating on securing nuclear materials. They agreed that the IAEA should play a central role in strengthening the global nuclear security architecture and setting international standards.

"The UN can contribute to the development of a regime for nuclear security," South Korean President Park Geun Hye said during a working lunch at the NSS on April 1, Xinhua News Agency reported. Park said the IAEA, Interpol, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) and the Global Partnership should all help strengthen nuclear security.

"This summit is not the end of our quest to make the world safe from nuclear terrorism," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He said the leaders at the Washington summit were now passing the baton to other international organizations. The IAEA is scheduled to hold its nuclear security conference and ministerial meeting in December, representing the sustained international effort to achieve the goal of a world without nuclear terrorism.

Outcomes and barriers

The NSS as an institution signified a major milestone in global nuclear governance. As a result of these summits, world leaders have taken concrete steps in their respective countries to contribute to the cause. Since the first summit in 2010, a total of 3.2 tons of highly enriched uranium and plutonium have been completely removed from 24 nuclear facilities in 12 different countries through international cooperation.

Many countries have also established specific mechanisms to fight against the trafficking of nuclear materials. A number of countries are now leveraging international cooperation to enhance nuclear security.

However, not everyone agrees that the NSS was the best mechanism for such work. "The NSS is much more significant in politics than it is in practice," Shen Dingli, Deputy Dean of the Institute of International Studies under Fudan University told the news website Thepaper.cn.

In Shen's opinion, "from the beginning, the NSS featured U.S. President Obama's personal idealistic vision in global nuclear governance."

It is true that there remains a significant gap between the current situation of global nuclear security and the nuclear-free world that Obama envisioned. In recent years, the theft of nuclear materials has never been stopped from happening. According to statistics released by the IAEA, there were a total of 170 cases in which nuclear or radioactive materials were reported missing, stolen, or out of the government's control around the world in 2014. About 70 percent of these cases took place in the United States, Canada or France.

The NSS as a forum has also been limited to discussion on securing nuclear materials from terrorists, Shen said. Yet nuclear proliferation issues, such as in the Korean Peninsula, have never been on the NSS agenda.

Meanwhile, other international institutions on nuclear security are currently limited in their effectiveness. For example, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Facilities that was amended in 2005 has not been ratified by enough member states for it to enter into force. China's legislative body ratified the convention in 2009, the second nuclear weapon state to do so after Russia.

In addition, the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005, is limited to responding to acts of terrorism, but has not set up an effective mechanism for preventing terror attacks from happening in the first place.

In fact, sufficient discussion and coordination are needed to unify different standards and regulations among all countries concerned. As a result, the two-day 2016 NSS was unable to reach such an obligatory agreement or binding document, Steven Pifter, a researcher of arms control and nonproliferation at the Brookings Institution, said in an interview with Thepaper.cn.

Shen is also concerned with international efforts around nuclear security, as the Obama administration's tenure will soon come to an end. Will the next administration follow Obama's nuclear proposals? When will world leaders next gather together to expand the agenda to other nuclear issues? The 2016 NSS did not give a clear answer to these questions, he said.

Still, even if this spring's NSS was the last of its kind, the international community will continue its work under current international institutions, such as the UN and IAEA, Pifter asserted. World leaders are now increasingly aware of the importance of nuclear security thanks to the four summits, he said.

China's efforts

China is a major power possessing nuclear technologies, and as such, is obliged to secure its nuclear materials and technology. President Xi said in his speech that China has always been committed to the development and utilization of nuclear energy while ensuring security first. These efforts are intended to help bridge the gap in domestic energy supplies, and address the challenges posed by climate change.

In fact, many countries are interested in developing nuclear energy as a clean energy source. In part due to its sound security record, China is willing to share its experience with more countries through cooperation, Fan Jishe, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua.

Indeed, the Chinese Government highlights its efforts to prioritize security. "China's nuclear industry keeps a sound record in security. No nuclear materials are missing or stolen," Liu Yongde, a spokesperson for the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), said in a recent interview with China Environment News.

Since the first NSS in 2010, China has made new progress in the field of nuclear security, Li Junjie, China's envoy to the IAEA, said to Xinhua. Currently, the scale of China's nuclear plants under construction ranks number one in the world, accounting for 40 percent of the world's total.

As Xi mentioned during the latest NSS, the Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security (CENS) has been completed a year ahead of schedule and was put into operation in Beijing; the highly enriched uranium (HEU)-fueled Miniature Neutron Source Reactor of the China Institute of Atomic Energy has been smoothly converted to start using safer low-enriched uranium fuels; positive progress has been made in the Chinese-assisted program to convert a HEU-fueled research reactor in Ghana.

China chalks up other countries' willingness to seek cooperation because of its zero accident record and achievements in nuclear power development. The Asian nation has also reached deals in developing nuclear power with the United Kingdom, Pakistan and the Czech Republic.

China's nuclear security cooperation with the United States has also borne fruit, including the fact that CENS, sponsored by both China and the United States, is already up and running. Xu Dazhe, head of the CAEA, said that CENS is both the largest project in China-U.S. nuclear security cooperation, and the largest facility for exchange and personnel training in this field in the Asia-Pacific region.

During the first NSS in 2010, China and the United States agreed to establish CENS, with China providing infrastructure and maintaining responsibility for operations, while the United States offers equipment and devices. China has devoted over 360 million yuan ($55.66 million), while the American investment is 200 million yuan ($30.92 million). CENS is also open to other Asia-Pacific countries and is capable of providing training for as many as 2,000 people a year.

Shen commented that both China and the United States have a strong demand for the civilian use of nuclear technology. Preventing nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists is therefore a common interest of the two.

Currently, China holds consultations with the United States, Russia, France, Britain, India, Pakistan and South Korea on this critical issue. With its growing participation in international cooperation, China will play an increasingly important role in global nuclear security governance in the future, Fan predicted.

Copyedited by Mara Lee Durrell

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