SEOUL, March 27 (Itar-Tass) — Further development of nuclear power generation is only possible in case of absolute security guarantees, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Tuesday, addressing the second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.
He also outlined three key principles of this process. The first one, in his words, is its “universal” character, for which ends it is necessary to “sum up and codify international legislation in the area of the peaceful use of atomic energy.” The second principle is transparency and prompt reaction. “Along with exhaustive and prompt reports about any incidents at nuclear facilities, it is necessary to work out efficient mechanisms of prompt response to emergencies,” Nazarbayev said. The third principle is “equality and trust.” “All states should be granted equal rights to access to peaceful nuclear technologies, as well as a possibility to use the guaranteed reserve of low-enriched uranium (fuel bank),” the Kazakh president stressed.
He once again reiterated that his country “hails the enforcement of the strategic arms reduction treaty between Russia and the United States and supports U.S. President Barack Obama’s new nuclear strategy, where it denounced the use of nuclear weapons against states that observe the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.” In this respect, the Kazakh president called on all nuclear powers “to show good will too.”
“The erosion of the non-proliferation regime is a fact, and one of the most serious threats of the 21st century is uncontrolled increase in the number of nuclear countries,” Nazarbayev said. “Some states believe than the possession of nuclear arms is a security factor.”
“Proceeding from the experience of my country, which has voluntarily given up world’s fourth nuclear missile arsenal, I can say: sustainable socio-economic development can only give real security guarantees,” Nazarbayev emphasized. In this context, he proposed to “agree to use the toughest international measures, including isolation and boycotting, against a country which is the first to use nuclear weapons.”
“At the same time, nuclear powers must provide those countries, which give up nuclear weapons, with security guarantees confirmed by the United Nations Organization,” he noted.
Nazarbayev also voiced an initiative to convene nuclear security summit meetings every two years and said this country was ready to host such meeting in Astana.