The global quest for a safer future

THE age of international terrorism has confronted the world with a stark new security challenge: to ensure nuclear materials do not fall into the hands of extremists.
The world simply cannot tolerate the possibility that terrorists might obtain a nuclear weapon, or slowly acquire the materials and know-how needed to build one.
We must never find ourselves in a position where a terrorist group could threaten a country with nuclear catastrophe. We know some terrorist groups have sought to acquire a nuclear device.
Thankfully, they could not do so easily. But the consequences of success are so extreme that we cannot be complacent. We must do all we can to protect the security of nuclear material.
That is why I will be flying to Seoul this week to take part in the second global Nuclear Security Summit. Australia will join 52 other countries and four key international organisations to discuss how we can ensure terrorists never threaten the world with nuclear devastation.
 
The Nuclear Security Summit process began in Washington in 2010 with the largest gathering of world leaders in the US since the 1945 founding of the UN. Here, President Barack Obama challenged the world to secure all vulnerable nuclear material within four years. This week we are reconvening to take stock of our progress. Collectively we have already achieved a great deal. This is work that rarely makes the headlines. It is a technical world, full of scientific terms and long acronyms. But it is vital work, for all its complexity and near anonymity.
We are strengthening the global nuclear security architecture, ensuring that countries make legally binding and other commitments to the highest standards of protection. We are encouraging countries to take special precautions for the most sensitive nuclear materials, such as highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium, recognising the special risk they pose.
We are acting to secure radioactive sources to guard against the possibility that terrorists could use a radiological dispersal device, a so-called dirty bomb.
And we are ensuring the security of nuclear materials in transit.
Australia has a proud history of action in these areas. The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organisation dedicated to non-proliferation, recently ranked Australia first on nuclear security among 32 countries with one kilogram or more of weapons-usable nuclear materials. Domestically, we are leading the development of nuclear forensic techniques that will enable law enforcement agencies from around the world to detect the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. And we are at the forefront of using low-enriched uranium to produce nuclear medicine, removing any requirement for Australia to hold highly enriched uranium for this purpose. Internationally, we have worked to achieve wider adherence by states to nuclear security conventions. Regionally, we promote the highest possible nuclear security standards in an era of growing interest in civil nuclear energy.
Beyond the scope of this week's summit, which concentrates on the threat of nuclear terrorism, Australia has the strongest commitment to stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to nuclear disarmament.
Last week, I moved a motion in parliament reconfirming Australia's commitment to the goal of a world free from nuclear weapons.
And I'm proud of the fact that Australia's record in these endeavours is strong and long-standing. As the world's third largest uranium producer, we have a special responsibility to strive ceaselessly in support of global nuclear non-proliferation.
That is why Australia supplies uranium only for peaceful purposes under the strictest safeguards and security provisions.
We have made a strong intellectual and practical contribution to the work of global disarmament and non-proliferation over many years. In 1995, we established the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
In 2008, we established with Japan the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. And in 2010 we again partnered with Japan to establish the 10 country Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative.
We are a strong supporter of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
And we have supported UN Security Council and IAEA actions against the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, as well as implemented our own sanctions.
The world has become a safer place since the Washington summit, thanks to the focus on nuclear security driven by Obama and the work of many countries. Large amounts of potentially lethal material have been moved to secure locations and made safe.
In Seoul, the work will go on, with the ultimate goal of entrenching global nuclear security practices to keep us safe - for our sake and for the sake of our children. That is the objective I take to this summit.
Julia Gillard is the Prime Minister of Australia
Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/the-global-quest-for-a-safer-future/story-e6frgd0x-1226309653979

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