Deputy Secretary Blinken will lead a day-long workshop at Stanford University, “The Hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction: Leveraging New Technology” on April 7.

This workshop, which will follow the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama this week in Washington, will explore the innovative tools we need in the fight against weapons of mass destruction. While new technology is making access to these weapons easier every day, it also provides new opportunities to prevent their spread and verify their destruction. The event will bring together experts from the tech and science community, government, private sector, NGOs, philanthropy, and academia to harness new technology and trends such as microsats, smartphone apps, ubiquitous sensing, crowdsourcing, and data analysis to address this urgent challenge.

Since President Barack Obama initiated the Nuclear Security Summit process in 2010, leaders from around the world have joined the effort to prevent nuclear terrorism. The process has fostered international cooperation that has delivered tangible improvements to global nuclear security and reduced the threat of nuclear terrorism. 

In this regard and underscoring the importance of transport security of the nuclear andother  radioactive materials within the international dynamic generated by NSS process in Washington, Seoul and The Hague communiqués [paragraphs 9,8 and 31 respectively], Morocco and Spain, in cooperation with  the IAEA organized in Madrid on 27-29 October, 2015 a Table Top and Field Exercise named "Gate to Africa" with the presence of around 60 international observers, including representatives of the United Nations (1540 committee), the IAEA, Interpol, the IMO, the EU andthe GICNT.

Pakistan has ratified the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM). The Instrument of Ratification was signed by President Mamnoon Hussain on the advice of the Prime Minister. 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, accompanied by senior officials from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), the Department of Defense, and a host of international VIPs, participated with the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) to commission China’s new nuclear security Center of Excellence (COE). 

On Thursday, March 31 through Friday, April 1, 2016, President Obama will welcome world leaders from more than 50 nations and four international organizations at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC.  This historical event will be one of the world’s largest gatherings of Heads of State and is designed to enhance international cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism. 

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins is leading the U.S. delegation to the annual meeting of the International Network for Nuclear Security Training and Support Centres (NSSC Network), held this year in Islamabad at the Pakistan Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Nuclear Security, from March 14 through March 18. Ambassador Jenkins serves as the chair of the NSSC Network. The aim of this annual meeting is to review the status of implementation of the NSSC Network.

The U.S. Secret Service is working closely with our state, local and federal law enforcement partners in planning for and conducting motorcade movements and security zones for the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit on 3/27/16 – 4/2/16 in Washington, D.C. 

Participants from 71 Member States learnt about an IAEA voluntary self-assessment tool to strengthen national nuclear security regimes at a meeting at IAEA headquarters last month. The online nuclear security information management system (NUSIMS) provides Member States with a clear and more up-to-date picture of their respective nuclear security situation through a structured self-assessment tool.