A Secure Nuclear Future.docVIP

A Secure Nuclear Future Seoul summit brings world together on nuclear security Nuclear power can be a gift or a curse, depending on whether it is used as a clean energy source or a destructive weapon. Nuclear power is still an important source of irreplaceable clean energy. Therefore, the best way is to maximize its advantage in civilian use while protecting nuclear security. The urgency of enhancing nuclear safety and security requires nuclear states and related organizations to take practical measures to lower the risks of radiation accidents and illegal trading of nuclear materials through international cooperation. This is one of the agreements reached at the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit held on March 26-27 in the South Korean capital. In a joint communiqué, leaders emphasized the need to minimize the civilian use of highly enriched uranium that can be used to produce bombs. They vowed to work together to achieve the shared goals of nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Building consensus Zhu Xu hui, a researcher with the China National Nuclear Corp. and an expert in uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel, said a big move at this summit was encouraging the reduction of weapons-grade nuclear materials, including uranium enriched to a purity of at least 90 percent, and plutonium. There are about 1,750 tons of weapons-grade nuclear materials in the world—1,500 tons of highly enriched uranium and 250 tons of plutonium, which can be used to create nearly 126,000 nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia possess 95 percent of these materials. Since Russia and the United States own the majority of the worlds weapons-grade nuclear materials, they should start the reduction first. Then other countries must follow their steps, Zhu said. In 1993, Russia and the United States signed an agreement under which Russia agreed to convert 500 tons of weapons-grade uranium to low enriched uranium in the following 10 years, and th