Seminar on 2012 SEOUL NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT Date : 9 March 2012 ABSTRACT History, perspectives and challenges of the

Nuclear Security Summit, with particular emphasis to the 2012 Seouls one Giuseppe Gherardi The presentation gives a schematic overview of the history of successes and challenges in the process of building a safer world, reducing or eliminating the threat posed by unsecured nuclear weapons and radioactive materials. The history of nuclear security saw a strong acceleration following the terrorist attacks on 11th September 2001. After 11th Mach 2011, nuclear safety experts are facing the challenge of learning lessons from the accident at Fukushima Daiichi NPP. From these lessons new approaches will emerge: on the assessment of safety and security, on widest transparency of the peer safety reviews, on independence of national regulatory authorities, on international liabilities, on information security. It has been noticed that these lessons on NPP safety cannot be dealt in isolation from nuclear security, non-proliferation, and nuclear/conventional disarmament. Such an ambitious undertaking require an effective international and regional cooperation. Since WWII, on each of these themes a complex system of international relations and initiatives has grown up. The NSS is by far the highest point for a comprehensive view of this complex system for a global safety and security culture: the 2010 NSS was the largest gathering of world leaders in US since the founding of United Nations 65 years ago. The 2012 NSS is the next step in implementing a new paradigm for the global governance of 3S (Safety, Safeguards, Security) and Emergency Preparedness.