Japan, U.S. to create joint working group for nuke security
Nov. 8, 2010
Tokyo and Washington are currently making a final adjustment to create a joint working group to promote bilateral cooperation in the area of nuclear security as part of their efforts to contain nuclear terrorism, sources in the two governments told Kyodo News on Saturday.
It will be the first time for Japan and the United States to jointly create a working group on the issue. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and U.S. President Barack Obama will officially agree on the matter when Obama comes to Japan on Friday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in Yokohama, according to the sources.
The move follows a summit on preventing nuclear terrorism hosted by Obama and attended by leaders from 47 nations in Washington in April, where they pledged to cooperate in taking nuclear security measures.
By deepening ties in nuclear security with Japan, which has the world's most advanced technology for prevention of nuclear proliferation, the United States wants to increase the momentum for establishing an international nuclear security system ahead of the second nuclear terrorism summit scheduled for 2012 in South Korea, according to the sources.
The working group is expected to consider measures such as finding and spreading best practices to keep nuclear materials that could be used in weapons and for nuclear facilities out of the hands of terrorists, as well as technical cooperation for nuclear forensics to counter illicit nuclear trafficking.
The working group will comprise chiefs of sections in government departments and ministries dealing with the area, including Japan's science and foreign ministries, National Police Agency and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, as well as the U.S. homeland security, energy and state departments.
The United States has asked Japan to develop a legal framework to guarantee security protection to ensure the smooth exchange of nuclear-related information, the sources said.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Nov.6, 2010)
It will be the first time for Japan and the United States to jointly create a working group on the issue. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and U.S. President Barack Obama will officially agree on the matter when Obama comes to Japan on Friday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in Yokohama, according to the sources.
The move follows a summit on preventing nuclear terrorism hosted by Obama and attended by leaders from 47 nations in Washington in April, where they pledged to cooperate in taking nuclear security measures.
By deepening ties in nuclear security with Japan, which has the world's most advanced technology for prevention of nuclear proliferation, the United States wants to increase the momentum for establishing an international nuclear security system ahead of the second nuclear terrorism summit scheduled for 2012 in South Korea, according to the sources.
The working group is expected to consider measures such as finding and spreading best practices to keep nuclear materials that could be used in weapons and for nuclear facilities out of the hands of terrorists, as well as technical cooperation for nuclear forensics to counter illicit nuclear trafficking.
The working group will comprise chiefs of sections in government departments and ministries dealing with the area, including Japan's science and foreign ministries, National Police Agency and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, as well as the U.S. homeland security, energy and state departments.
The United States has asked Japan to develop a legal framework to guarantee security protection to ensure the smooth exchange of nuclear-related information, the sources said.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Nov.6, 2010)
