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2nd Nuclear Security Summit to open in Seoul

Russia is participating in the Summit
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

SEOUL, March 26 (Itar-Tass) —— The second Nuclear Security Summit will open in the capital of South Korea on Monday. The first summit was held in Washington two years ago.

The leaders and officials from 53 countries and four international organizations, including US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will participate in the Seoul summit. President Dmitry Medvedev will represent Russia at the summit. He will have several bilateral meetings, including with Obama and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak.

Russia is participating in the Nuclear Security Summit, because the nuclear industry is one of strategic trends of development for the country. Therefore, Russia attaches paramount importance to ensure and build up physical nuclear security at domestic and international levels.

The summiteers will discuss three issues, namely the response to nuclear threats, the protection of nuclear facilities and materials and the aversion of illegal trade in nuclear materials, and will outline practical measures to resolve the main tasks in physical nuclear security.

After the nuclear disaster at the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima-1 the problem to strengthen the nuclear security of operation at the nuclear power plants and to restore trust to peaceful atom became particularly topical. The issue will be high on the agenda at the Seoul summit along with technical nuclear security, that is to say all issues related with the operation of nuclear facilities, their design, the handling of nuclear and radioactive materials.

After two-day debates on Monday and Tuesday the Seoul communiqu· will be adopted. The communiqu· will generalize practical measures proposed by the summiteers and will set concrete goals in nuclear security.