Nuclear power

Nuclear expert: “Worse than during the Cold war”

In Washington days, more than 50 heads of state and government to advise on nuclear safety. But it is an important atom lacks power, Russia. Nuclear weapons expert, Unal explains in an Interview why Putin stays at home.

DW: The tensions between Moscow and the West, especially the USA, are known. But why, exactly, do you believe that Russia has decided not to at the nuclear security summit in Washington to participate?

Beyza Unal: This has political reasons. Russia and the United States have not worked together well in recent years. And the summit is an American Forum, no international. It would be easier for Russia, when the summit of the UN would be organized. But it is now a game of political influence.

Also between NATO and Russia, it is not good. Compared with the Cold war, the cooperation in the area of arms control today is even worse than back then. The countries can be forced to finally be nothing. Even at the summit, the participants pick out the measures to which they are ready.

Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear material in the world. How useful is a nuclear safety summit in Moscow is there?

This has advantages, because Russia is determines where it goes in the future. More than 50 countries are now talking about nuclear backing material. And if Russia wants to re-join, it can do that.

What security measures are in your opinion especially important?

Fundamentally, the physical protection is important, so fences. And that, whoever goes in nuclear power plants. Transparency is extremely important: You must always hold, where radioactive Material is located.

Unal: The awareness of a possible danger by terrorists needs to be increased

The biggest difficulties are cost and a lack of awareness that one is vulnerable. There must also be training sessions for employees in order to increase they are at the risk of awareness.

In the past 20 years, according to Reports, were
almost 3,000 cases were recorded, in which the nuclear material is gone. Even if it has ‘acted only’ around 400 Times a theft – why there has been no terrorist attack with a so-called dirty, so a radioactive bomb, for example, by the terrorist militia “Islamic state”?

I think the terrorists do not get enough Material together and do not know how to build such a bomb. Some radioactive substances disintegrate after eight days and can no longer be used after that.

You wrote last October, that Russia should work with the International atomic energy Agency (IAEA). The country should disclose more Details about the illegal trade of nuclear material and the provided database of the IAEA to hold. Where exactly the Problem lies and what needs to make Russia different?

We know that Russia, reports of thefts, because we know only afterwards. Since the radio appears the active Material from which it was not known that it was ever gone. I think this is a matter of national security of Russia. The country does not want the world to see, that it is sometimes vulnerable, or that its security weaknesses of systems in some Places.

You need to share this information but, because the Rest of the world must know what is gone. Russia has been working for decades on its nuclear safety. Generally, they are good at it, but they don’t trust international institutions.

Moscow has decided, not at the nuclear security summit in Washington. Iran is not, because he was not invited in the first place. Why?

In the past, Iran was not invited because of the sanctions, which were imposed on the country because of its nuclear program. Despite the recently reached agreement, according to which the most severe sanctions have been lifted, because inspectors are allowed in, non-criticism of Iran for its relations with state actors. To Hamas and Hezbollah, for example.

North Korea (a country that has also not been invited to the summit, note. d. Red. ) on the other hand is a complete outsider. They have signed any international treaties. Experts do not consider it also as a realistic risk that terrorists could get nuclear material from North Korea.

Beyza Unal is an expert on nuclear weapons policy at the British think tank Chatham House in London.

The Interview was conducted by Bruce Konviser.