APLN Statement on the 4th Nuclear Security Summit
Statements

APLN Statement on the 4th Nuclear Security Summit

Below is a summary of the full statement.

The fourth and final Summit of this series was held in Washington on 1 April 2016, engaging leaders from 52 countries. Their ambition is to deny terrorists access to nuclear materials which might be used for nuclear weapons and radiological devices.

We draw particular attention to the implications of the Summit process for the Asia-Pacific and call on the governments of the region to support the implementation of the Summit outcomes and action plans in order to contain and eliminate nuclear security threats in the Asia–Pacific.

We call for continued high level attention to these issues in the Asia-Pacific, as the threat of nuclear terrorism remains acute.

We strongly urge all remaining countries of the Asia–Pacific which are not yet party to join as soon as possible the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) and its 2005 amendment; and the 2005 International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism(ICSANT). They should be prompted by the third biennial Nuclear Security Index to improve their nuclear theft and sabotage precautions. And they should avail the IAEA technical guidance and peer review services. All such efforts will help to put the architecture of nuclear security on a more comprehensive, transparent, globally uniform and effective set of standards.

Finally, we would encourage all nuclear weapons possessing states to explore how best to bring nuclear materials under military control, which account for 83 percent of all worldwide nuclear materials, into line with the international processes and efforts to strengthen nuclear security.

Chung-in Moon, Seoul(+82-2-325-2604)

Ramesh Thakur, Canberra(+61-447-727-797)

The Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN) has more than sixty members from 14 countries across Asia and the Pacific, consisting of former political, official and military leaders in senior executive positions as well as opinion leaders and shapers from other sectors of society. As an advocacy group, the APLN aims to inform and energise public opinion, especially high-level policymakers, to take seriously the very real threats posed by nuclear weapons, and to do everything possible to achieve a world in which they are contained, diminished and eventually eliminated.

 

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