Nations Make Nuclear Security Agreements at President’s Summit

Representatives from 46 countries attended President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit April 12-13 in Washington, D.C.

“We have the opportunity, as individual nations, to take specific and concrete actions to secure the nuclear materials in our countries and to prevent illicit trafficking and smuggling,” Obama said.

The goal of the talks between the nations was to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists. Media reported it as the largest gathering of world leaders called by an American president since President Franklin Roosevelt hosted a 1945 meeting that began the United Nations.

For Obama, the summit followed his April 8 nuclear nonproliferation treaty with Russia, where both countries have agreed to decrease nuclear arms by 30 percent.

Among those in attendance were Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese Jordanian President Hu Jintao, King Abdullah, Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamed Najib Abdul Razak and Armenian President Serzh Sargsian.

The White House reported that several nations have come to agreements that include:

Chile has shipped its highly enriched uranium to the United States; Ukraine has agreed to ship its highly enriched uranium out of the country within two years; and Canada has agreed to ship its used highly enriched uranium to the United States.

And the United States and Russia have both agreed to eliminate enough plutonium for approximately 17,000 nuclear weapons.

South Korea has agreed to host the next Nuclear Security Summit in 2012.