Announcement of the Nuclear Security Summit in 2016

Last year in Berlin, the President formally announced his plan to host a fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit in 2016.  The Summit will be held March 31-April 1, 2016, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

As the President stated in his speech in Prague in 2009, nuclear terrorism is the most immediate and extreme threat to global security. He announced an international effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, break up black markets, and detect and intercept illicitly trafficked materials. The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, DC in 2010, and was followed by additional Summits in Seoul in 2012 and The Hague in 2014.  These Summits have achieved tangible improvements in the security of nuclear materials and stronger international institutions that support nuclear security.

• The Summit will continue discussion on the evolving threat and highlight steps that can be taken together to minimize the use of highly-enriched uranium, secure vulnerable materials, counter nuclear smuggling and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism.
• The planned outcomes of the Summit include a communiqué highlighting progress made and work still to be done to prevent nuclear terrorism.  Leaders will also endorse plans to strengthen the enduring international institutions and initiatives that support nuclear security to enable them to carry forward and build upon the legacy of the Summits.
• The U.S. seeks a strengthened global nuclear security architecture that is comprehensive, is based on international standards, builds confidence in nations’ nuclear security implementation, and results in declining global stocks of nuclear weapons-usable nuclear materials.
• We cannot afford to wait for an act of nuclear terrorism before working together to collectively improve our nuclear security culture, share our best practices, and raise our standards for nuclear security.

Laura S. H. Holgate currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction on the National Security Council.