SCIENCE Secretary Mario G. Montejo, head of the Philippine Delegation at the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), accepted the Atoms for Peace Award on behalf of the Philippines at an awards luncheon of the recently held Nuclear Industry Summit (NIS) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The Atoms for Peace Award recognizes the recipient’s global leadership for the removal of all highly enriched uranium from its territory and other contributions to nuclear security.
“This award is an acknowledgment of our country’s efforts to promote nuclear security at the international level,” Montejo said. “Nuclear security is a responsibility of all states, big and small, and it begins with each country’s commitment to bolster national capacities to address safety and nonproliferation concerns.”
Some other countries also received the Atoms for Peace Awards. They are the Federal Republic of Brazil, Republic of Chile, Czech Republic, Kingdom of Denmark, Georgia, Hungary, Republic of Korea, United Mexican States, Romania, Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Thailand, Republic of Turkey, Ukraine and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The 2016 NIS brought together about 350 nuclear-industry executives who issued a joint statement stressing their commitment to nuclear security, safety and cooperation with governments. It is an official side event of the 2016 NSS that was hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1.
Both NIS and NSS were started in 2010, after Obama announced an international effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, break up black markets, and detect and intercept illicitly trafficked materials. The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, D.C., in 2010. It was followed by additional summits in Seoul in 2012 and The Hague in 2014.
The 2016 NSS gathered the leaders of more than 50 countries to discuss the strengthening of existing regulatory organizations and other safeguards in view of the growing threat of nuclear terrorism. With Montejo at the summit were Philippine Nuclear Research Institute officers OIC Office of Deputy Director Soledad Castañeda and Head of Nuclear Safeguard and Security Julieta Seguis.
At the summit, world leaders declared progress on Friday in safeguarding nuclear materials sought by terrorists and wayward nations, even as Obama acknowledged the task was far from finished. Closing out a nuclear-security summit, Obama warned of a persistent and harrowing threat: terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear bomb.He urged fellow leaders not to be complacent about the risk of catastrophe, saying that such an attack by the Islamic State (IS) or a similar group would “change our world.”
“I’m the first to acknowledge the great deal of work that remains,” Obama said, adding that the vision of nuclear disarmament he laid out at the start of his presidency may not be realized during his lifetime. “But we’ve begun.”
Despite their calls for further action, the roughly 50 leaders assembled announced that this year’s gathering would be the last of this kind. This year deep concerns about terrorism were the focus, as leaders grappled with the notion that the next Paris or Brussels could involve an attack with a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb. “There is no doubt that if these madmen ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, they most certainly would use it to kill as many innocent people as possible,” Obama said.
So far, no terrorists have obtained a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb, Obama said, crediting global efforts to secure nuclear material. But he said it wasn’t for lack of the terrorists trying: Al-Qaeda has sought nuclear materials, IS group has deployed chemical weapons, and extremists linked to the Brussels and Paris attacks were found to have spied on a top Belgian nuclear official.
The two-day summit held other, more positive signs of the world coming together to confront the broader nuclear threat.
The US Security Council members who brokered a sweeping nuclear deal with Iran last year held up that agreement as a model for preventing nuclear proliferation, as they gathered on the summit’s sidelines to review the deal’s implementation.
PIA and AP