The March 2016 Nuclear Security Summit (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
March 14, 2016 |
| Report Number |
IN10463 |
| Report Type |
Insight |
| Authors |
Nikitin, Mary Beth Dunham |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
To mobilize world leaders to prevent terrorist acquisition of nuclear materials, the President hosted thefirst Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in Washington, DC, in April 2010. A second summit was held in South Korea inMarch 2012 and a third in the Netherlands in March 2014. A fourth summit is to be held in Washington, DC, on March31 and April 1, 2016. Two official side events are to be held during the summit: an industry-led conference and a nongovernmentalexperts conference. [...] The summit process has given attention to a wide range of nuclear and radiological source security measures, such astraining for those handling the materials, detection of smuggled material, the threat of diversion by insiders, nuclearforensics, emergency response, and cyber-security at nuclear facilities.The U.S. government has worked both domestically and in partnership with other countries to address this problemthrough programs at the Departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, and State. The IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] has also played alead role in these efforts, particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Removing weapons-usable nuclear materials from more countries has been a major area of focus since the first summit.
