Seoul hosts on Tuesday the second day of a summit on nuclear security with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in attendance. Talks will stress on improvement of nuclear security and use of nuclear materials by criminals.
Over 50 states are attending the summit. Every state will pass a memorandum on nuclear security. Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs will not be discussed.
Medvedev will meet the King of Jordan to discuss the Middle East, Syria, bilateral cooperation in energy. Russia wants to build the first nuclear power plant in Jordan.
Russia, Kazakhstan and the US are almost done with clearing the Semipalatinsk Test Site, RIA Novosti reports.
Medvedev, Kazakh and US Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Barack Obama made a joint statement on cooperation at the former test site.
The Russian president reminded that the three states started work in 2004 and thanked Nazarbayev for activity in the issue.
Obama said that the three states made major achievements in the last years. He noted that the Semipalatinsk Test Site built during the Cold War was unsecure.
Nazarbayev reminded that over 500 tests were organized in the area, including over 70 in the atmosphere. Its closing was ordered 20 years ago. It was used for the last time in 2004. 3,000 square kilometers have been rehabilitated. 1.5 million people were affected by radiation. Silos of missiles with 1,000 warheads were closed.
The Semipalatinsk Test Site was closed on August 29, 1991. At least 468 nuclear tests were organized in 1949-1989. Tests in 1949-1963 exceeded the nuclear bomb explosion in Hiroshima 2,500-fold. Nuclear clouds of 55 air and land explosions and gas fraction of 169 underground blasts left the area. 1.3 million suffered from radiation.
