The 2014 Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague

Abstract

The Dutch Prime Minister had a decisive impact on interactivity among the leaders at the Summit. The scenario-based discussion enhanced the leaders’ emotional connect with the issue and consequently whole-of-government learning. The leaders-only plenary witnessed a conceptual discussion on nuclear security and related aspects. The Gift Basket, almost an adjunct to the formal Summit outcomes at Seoul, became a key vehicle for pushing learning over and above the least common denominator; the most prominent example was the 35-nation ‘Excellence Statement’, an inner track of higher standards within the NSS. That this was a double-edged sword also became apparent as the advocates of a broader approach to nuclear security took recourse to their own Gift Basket to push for a shift in the learning track to nuclear disarmament. The Dutch pushed the boundaries of the understandings reached at Washington and Seoul in key areas in concert with the U.S. These were improving security and reducing use of HEU and plutonium (less fissile material, fewer locations, fewer countries); entry into force of the Amended CPPNM; increasing the thoroughness and frequency of monitoring by the IAEA; national registration and protection of highly radioactive sources like those used in medical equipment; giving the nuclear industry a bigger role in the protection and regulation of nuclear material; and ensuring that countries play their part in improving the protection of their own nuclear installations and sources.