Foreign Secretary to open meet on nuclear security on Monday

NEW DELHI: India will host a preparatory meeting of officials from 49 countries next week to set the agenda for the second Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Seoul in March.

The 49 'Sherpas' or personal representatives of heads of government and officials from four multilateral organisations are expected to discuss action-oriented measures for preventing nuclear terrorism.

The measures include minimising highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium (Pu), strengthening the protection of nuclear facilities, and preventing illicit trafficking of nuclear materials.

"A meeting of the Sherpas for the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit will be held in New Delhi on 16-17 January 2012," an External Affairs Ministry statement said here.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, India's Sherpa, will open the meeting on Monday.

The discussions are expected to focus on themes such as the synergy between nuclear security and safety and the management of radiological materials.

The officials are likely to prepare a blueprint for an interface between nuclear security and safety which may help restore confidence of the international community in nuclear power, which was significantly dented by Fukushima disaster in Japan in March last year.