UAE attends event to reduce nuclear risks around the world

The eighth Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative is taking place in Hiroshima, Japan at the weekend.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar and a Minister of State, will head the UAE delegation at the non-proliferation talks in Japan. Delores Johnson / The National

TOKYO // As the UAE gears up for the eighth Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) in Japan, experts said they hoped the event would mark a step forward in disarming nuclear weapons states.

The ministerial meeting will be attended by 12 countries, including Germany, Turkey, Mexico, Canada and the Netherlands, in Hiroshima on Friday and Saturday to lead the global discussion on reducing nuclear risks as a stepping stone to a world free of nuclear weapons.

“Hiroshima is a historically significant place where the first atomic bomb was dropped,” said Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons will be highlighted at this meeting and NPDI ministers will issue a joint statement which will include reaffirmation of the group objectives in promoting non-proliferation and disarmament objectives.

“The meeting will also discuss the NPDI contributions to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review process and approve multiple working papers to be submitted to the next NPT prep-com in New York later this month.”

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar and the Minister of State, will head the UAE delegation.

“The UAE is an active, founding member of the NPDI and we continue to contribute to the NPT review process through ongoing areas,” Mr Al Kaabi said.

He noted, however, the lack of progress with convening a conference two years ago, and several non-compliance issues that have yet to be resolved.

He said the UAE was also working on an initiative to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation education.

“This group is unique because it represents countries that are active in the area of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and enjoys a good reputation in those areas,” he said. “For instance, all NPDI countries have signed the additional protocol to the safeguards agreement. This meeting geographically represents all regions of the world and NPDI states are like-minded in their beliefs and views in those areas, focusing on practical approaches. They can play an essential role in bridging gaps between nuclear states and non-nuclear states.”

Deepti Choubey, senior director of nuclear and bio-security at the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington, said non-nuclear states were very active on disarmament.

“They’ve put forward a proposition that the most effective way to achieving nuclear security is if we have lower numbers of nuclear weapons,” she said. “And the challenge with that concept is, as we start dismantling, when you talk about that weapons-usable material coming out of these warheads, the material security mission becomes all the more important because we want to make sure that material is secure.

“So the issue with those materials will not just be about making sure that nuclear armed states aren’t cheating and secretly reconstructing a nuclear weapons programme, but we need to make sure that a non-state actor, a terrorist, a criminal, an insider, is not having access to it for other malicious intent and that’s the nuclear security mission.”

She said nuclear security was not an “either-or” proposition with disarmament. “It’s something that’s going to accelerate anybody’s goals for disarmament or for non-proliferation or for access to nuclear energy because, to do any of those things responsibly or sustainably, you’re going to need that material security to be in place,” Ms Choubey said. “Non-nuclear weapons states have a very important role to play as they can build the capability and the capacities to be a part of that process.”

She said the UAE held an important leadership position across a variety of nuclear issues.

“For the plans the UAE has for building different power plants and facilities, nuclear security has to be integral to it,” she said. “They’ve already merged non-proliferation with peaceful uses of nuclear energy and it’s been great to have that representation.”