Special articles and reports on timely nonproliferation issues by CNS staff.

Updated: Mar 16, 2012

Nuclear Security Summit Resources

Overview

President Barack Obama convened the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in the wake of his 2009 Prague speech calling for renewed nuclear nonproliferation efforts. The 2010 NSS aimed to bring high-level attention to the issue of fissile material security and nuclear terrorism, and sought to buttress support for established nuclear security initiatives and improve international cooperation. Forty-seven national delegations attended the inaugural summit, with 38 being represented by heads of state. While the scope of the 2010 NSS remained narrow and focused only on civilian material security (tabling military fissile material security, radiological source security, and nuclear safety for another time), concrete progress has been made in many areas. A number of countries have since repatriated their U.S. and Soviet-origin nuclear materials, some have converted their civilian reactors to low enriched uranium use, and others have ratified key international conventions pertaining to nuclear security. States also agreed to a 2014 deadline for securing and removing all civilian fissile materials; however, this goal is unlikely to be met.

At the end of the 2010 Summit, South Korea agreed to host a follow-on Summit in March 2012 to assess progress since 2010 and identify further steps that must be taken to ensure that nuclear materials cannot fall into the wrong hands. This resource collection compiles research and analysis from CNS focusing on outcomes of the 2010 NSS and previewing the 2012 NSS and beyond.

CNS Resources

2012

Miles Pomper and Meghan Warren, "Progress Since the 2010 Washington Nuclear Security Summit: Successes, Shortcomings, and Options for the Future," conference paper prepared for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Symposium, March 23, 2012.

Miles Pomper and Michelle Dover, "The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit," The National Interest, January 4, 2012.

Miles Pomper, "The 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit and HEU Minimization," Working Paper Series, US-Korea Institute at SAIS, January 2012.

2011

Miles Pomper, "Bringing Belarus Back to the Table," WMD Junction, September 20, 2011.

Miles Pomper and Kingston Reif, "Two treaties. One Congress. No time to wait," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 15, 2011.

Miles Pomper, Cole Harvey, and David Slungaard, "Toward the Global Norm: Supporting the Minimization of Highly Enriched Uranium in the Civilian Sector," Asan Institute for Policy Studies, June 23, 2011.

Chen Kane, Stephanie Lieggi, and Miles Pomper, "Time for Leadership: South Korea and Nuclear Nonproliferation," Arms Control Today, March 2011.

2010

Miles Pomper and William Potter, "Medical isotope production: The US must follow South Africa's lead," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, December 17, 2010.

Alan Kuperman and Miles Pomper, "Stop holding onto dangerous nuclear material," The Hill, September 27, 2010.

Sarah Diehl and Paula Humphrey, "The April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit: One More Step Toward the Mountaintop," Nuclear Threat Initiative, April 20, 2010.

Thomas Young and Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, "The Nuclear Security Summit: Forging Consensus and Building Momentum," James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, April 20, 2010.

Elena Sokova, "Prioritizing investment in nuclear security education," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 1, 2010.