NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT

NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT

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(Highlights for Singapore): **

25.

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs what are the highlights of the recently concluded Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC.

Mr George Yong-Boon Yeo: The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) was an important initiative that focused global attention on nuclear security and, in particular, nuclear terrorism. The countries attending

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the NSS made serious political commitments to deal with these threats. Several countries also pledged to undertake measures which would mitigate the risk of nuclear terrorism such as giving up their stockpiles of highly enriched uranium which could be used in a nuclear bomb.

This was a promising start, but only a start. Countries need to follow up on the political commitments made in Washington with effective and sustained concrete measures. The next Summit will be held in the Republic of Korea in two years. We must all strive for maximum progress by that time.

As Prime Minister Lee said in Washington, nuclear terrorism is not just a remote, worst case scenario, but a disaster which can realistically happen unless all countries do their part to secure nuclear material and combat trafficking of illicit nuclear materials. Nuclear terrorism poses an existential threat to a small, densely populated city state like Singapore.

We thus take nuclear security very seriously. We contribute to global efforts through our rigorous system of export controls. As a major transhipment hub, Singapore has an important role in safeguarding the security of global trade. We work to prevent illicit cargoes from slipping through Singapore while not impeding legitimate trade. We also participate actively in international counter-proliferation initiatives, such as the Proliferation Security Initiative.

Any international export control regime is only as strong as its weakest link. Every country must play its part. We see signs that vessels carrying suspicious cargoes are by-passing ports with strict and effective export control systems like Singapore. Second-tier ports in our region and elsewhere must also strengthen their export control systems so that illicit nuclear materials are not diverted to less stringent jurisdictions.

Nuclear security and nuclear safety are closely inter-related. As more ASEAN countries consider nuclear power for their energy needs, they need to strengthen regional cooperation to improve our capabilities and safety standards. ASEAN countries have already begun a discussion on developing a regional nuclear safety regime. This is in our common interest as neither terrorists nor accidents will respect national boundaries.

We depend on and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to set stringent international norms and rules, and to help to enforce them. Singapore will be serving on the IAEA Board of Governors for the third time this September. We will do what we can to support and strengthen the IAEA.

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