PRIME MINISTER’S DIARY

Caption: Leaders from forty-seven countries and regions and three international organizations gathered for the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C., April 12–13. Prime Minister Hatoyama stands at the right of the third row.
Credit: CABINET PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE

Nuclear Security Summit

On April 12 and 13, leaders from forty-seven countries and three international organizations participated in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C. U.S. President Obama had called for the meeting in order to discuss countermeasures against nuclear terrorism.

Prime Minister Hatoyama attended the Summit as a representative of Japan. He remarked, “Japan believed that it was her moral responsibility to take the nonnuclear path as the only country to have suffered from atomic bombings, and has taken the lead in the abolition of nuclear weapons.” The Prime Minister stated that Japan attaches importance to nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, while recognizing that strengthening nuclear security is an important and urgent matter that needs to be addressed by international society as a whole. The Prime Minister joined with the participating world leaders in endorsing President Obama’s initiative to “secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years,” and confirmed Japan’s commitment to further strengthening nuclear security.

Among the many other efforts and contributions of Japan referred to in the Prime Minister’s statement were the establishment of the Integrated Support Center for Strengthening of Nuclear Security in Asia and a proposal that Japan host an international meeting of the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) this year, to help raise awareness in industrial circles on the importance of nuclear security.

Related links:
PM Hatoyama at the Nuclear Security Summit: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/hatoyama/actions/201004/1188764_2231_e.html
PM Hatoyama in Washington D.C. (Internet TV): http://nettv.gov-online.go.jp/eng/prg/prg1962.html?c=01