SEOUL, KOREA — With three days to go before the start of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), leading experts in the nuclear energy and nuclear security sectors are gathering in advance to discuss the key issues of the upcoming summit.
From March 23 to 24, the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Industry Summit (NIS) will take place at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel. Two hundred people, including nuclear industry leaders and representatives of related international organizations, are expected to take part in two days of discussions on the theme of “The Role of the Nuclear Industry in Enhancing Nuclear Security and Safety.”
With the overlap between nuclear security and safety a main talking point in discussions of nuclear energy since the Fukushima Incident in March 2011, the main agenda of the NIS will be to discuss and promote cooperation between the private and public sectors.
Organized by the Korea Hydro & Power Company, in partnership with more than 15 other local energy, construction, and nuclear power companies, the NIS will open with a congratulatory address by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik.
Keynote speeches will be delivered by Roger Howsley, executive director of the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), Laurent Stricker, chairman of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), John Ritch, director general of the World Nuclear Association, and Marvin Fertel, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).
After an evaluation of the recent progress made by international organizations in the nuclear security and safety sectors, summit participants will take part in separate working group sessions discussing the minimization of civilian uses of highly enriched uranium, the securing of sensitive information related to nuclear materials and facilities, and the nexus between security and safety post-Fukushima.
The outcome of a final panel discussion will be incorporated into a communiqué to be passed along for consideration by delegates at the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit.
Also on March 23, another official NSS pre-event will be taking place at the Grand Hilton Seoul. Over 170 guests from key international organizations in the nuclear security sector, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Interpol, and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), will join over 100 locally based nuclear security specialists for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Symposium.
Organized under the theme, “Innovating Global Nuclear Security Governance,” this symposium will offer participants the opportunity to analyze beforehand the items on the agenda of the Nuclear Security Summit.
The four scheduled sessions look specifically at issues such as the threat of nuclear terrorism and the status of worldwide nuclear security, challenges to nuclear security and possible solutions, the interface between nuclear security and safety, and global nuclear security governance beyond 2014.
Forty-six countries and two international organizations will be represented at the symposium. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC) and the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), the event hosts, have invited Graham Allison, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, to give a keynote address.
