Japan, U.S. to work out road map to prevent nuclear terrorism
Feb. 7, 2011
The United States and Japan have agreed to work out a road map to prevent nuclear terrorism ahead of the second nuclear security summit to be held in Seoul in 2012, a senior White House official said in Tokyo on Friday.
Laura Holgate, senior director for weapons of mass destruction terrorism and threat reduction at the White House's National Security Council, made the remarks in an interview with Kyodo News.
The road map is intended to cover measures to block theft of nuclear materials by internal personnel and technological cooperation between the two countries over ''security by design concepts'' of nuclear-related facilities like nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel-processing facilities.
Holgate's remark indicates that the United States and Japan are deepening their alliance in nuclear security for protecting nuclear materials and nuclear-related facilities -- a field to which the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama puts the highest priority.
The United States apparently intends to enhance cooperation with Japan which operates a large number of nuclear reactors and plans to expand exports of nuclear power plants overseas.
''We did agree on a road map. We're close to agreement. I guess I'm still waiting to hear the last formal feedback from our counterparts. But, we had an agreement at the table, certainly, of a shared approach to how we will implement the topics that were addressed in the 'terms of reference' that we agreed in October of last year.''
''As you can imagine, this is a sensitive topic, so the details of what we're going to do together, I think, are going to be not something I can talk about in public. But, you've seen the 'terms of reference,' so you're familiar with the scope of activities,'' she said.
Holgate, who headed the U.S. delegation at the Japan-U.S. Nuclear Security Working Group's first meeting last week, said, ''When we talk about nuclear terrorism, fortunately most of that conversation is in the hypothetical.''
''When we talk about nuclear theft, that's not hypothetical, and we know what cases we have, and we can design around those risks,'' she added.
''The known cases of smuggling of weapons-usable material primarily are related to small amounts that were removed from large industrial facilities, by workers, or people who were able to get access to that material,'' she said.
Holgate noted the need to put more emphasis on nuclear security in designing nuclear facilities that can cope with internal threats.
'''Safeguards by design,' that is relatively well understood, that if you think ahead of time about where, in a process, you need to monitor things and so on, from a safeguards point of view, it's easier to build in moments where that can be done, that are less disruptive to the process.''
On mixed oxide fuel-processing plants which both Japan and the United States are in the process of building, Holgate said the two countries would pursue bilateral cooperation, including transportation of MOX.
She also said that the U.S. Sandia National Laboratory and Japanese Atomic Energy Agency would compile ''a handbook for security by design concepts'' which enhances understanding and insights of nuclear importing countries about nuclear security.
The road map will also cover the holding of a Japan-U.S. joint seminar for engineers of third countries to be held at the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Security set up in Japan's Tokaimura nuclear research and development complex in Ibaraki Prefecture.
''The Integrated Support Center...provides a really constructive venue for us to do joint work,'' Holgate said.
It also calls for promoting technological exchanges between Japanese and U.S. nuclear inspectors and help the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The road map will also include joint research between the two countries to develop proliferation-resistant nuclear fuels that are hard for terrorists to handle.
It also covers the field of nuclear forensics, a sophisticated technology to analyze the composition of nuclear materials and specify their source.
U.S. President Obama hosted the first nuclear security summit in Washington in April 2010 to enhance international cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism.
The second summit is scheduled to be held in Seoul in April 2012.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Feb. 4, 2011)
Laura Holgate, senior director for weapons of mass destruction terrorism and threat reduction at the White House's National Security Council, made the remarks in an interview with Kyodo News.
The road map is intended to cover measures to block theft of nuclear materials by internal personnel and technological cooperation between the two countries over ''security by design concepts'' of nuclear-related facilities like nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel-processing facilities.
Holgate's remark indicates that the United States and Japan are deepening their alliance in nuclear security for protecting nuclear materials and nuclear-related facilities -- a field to which the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama puts the highest priority.
The United States apparently intends to enhance cooperation with Japan which operates a large number of nuclear reactors and plans to expand exports of nuclear power plants overseas.
''We did agree on a road map. We're close to agreement. I guess I'm still waiting to hear the last formal feedback from our counterparts. But, we had an agreement at the table, certainly, of a shared approach to how we will implement the topics that were addressed in the 'terms of reference' that we agreed in October of last year.''
''As you can imagine, this is a sensitive topic, so the details of what we're going to do together, I think, are going to be not something I can talk about in public. But, you've seen the 'terms of reference,' so you're familiar with the scope of activities,'' she said.
Holgate, who headed the U.S. delegation at the Japan-U.S. Nuclear Security Working Group's first meeting last week, said, ''When we talk about nuclear terrorism, fortunately most of that conversation is in the hypothetical.''
''When we talk about nuclear theft, that's not hypothetical, and we know what cases we have, and we can design around those risks,'' she added.
''The known cases of smuggling of weapons-usable material primarily are related to small amounts that were removed from large industrial facilities, by workers, or people who were able to get access to that material,'' she said.
Holgate noted the need to put more emphasis on nuclear security in designing nuclear facilities that can cope with internal threats.
'''Safeguards by design,' that is relatively well understood, that if you think ahead of time about where, in a process, you need to monitor things and so on, from a safeguards point of view, it's easier to build in moments where that can be done, that are less disruptive to the process.''
On mixed oxide fuel-processing plants which both Japan and the United States are in the process of building, Holgate said the two countries would pursue bilateral cooperation, including transportation of MOX.
She also said that the U.S. Sandia National Laboratory and Japanese Atomic Energy Agency would compile ''a handbook for security by design concepts'' which enhances understanding and insights of nuclear importing countries about nuclear security.
The road map will also cover the holding of a Japan-U.S. joint seminar for engineers of third countries to be held at the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Security set up in Japan's Tokaimura nuclear research and development complex in Ibaraki Prefecture.
''The Integrated Support Center...provides a really constructive venue for us to do joint work,'' Holgate said.
It also calls for promoting technological exchanges between Japanese and U.S. nuclear inspectors and help the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The road map will also include joint research between the two countries to develop proliferation-resistant nuclear fuels that are hard for terrorists to handle.
It also covers the field of nuclear forensics, a sophisticated technology to analyze the composition of nuclear materials and specify their source.
U.S. President Obama hosted the first nuclear security summit in Washington in April 2010 to enhance international cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism.
The second summit is scheduled to be held in Seoul in April 2012.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Feb. 4, 2011)
