It's no secret that nuclear dangers are mounting in Asia. Nuclear weapons arsenals are growing, nuclear power programs are expanding, and fissile and radioactive materials — which could be used to target innocents anywhere — are used, stored and transported throughout our region, sometimes in insecure conditions. It's a discomfiting picture, and contrary to what skeptics would have us believe, it's not an exaggerated one. We should be putting pressure on our political leaders to accept their responsibility to address our concerns before a nuclear catastrophe happens.
This week an opportunity exists for them to be pro-active in the face of nuclear dangers as leaders from around the world gather Monday and Tuesday in the Netherlands at the world's third Nuclear Security Summit to agree on actions that should be taken to reduce nuclear risks across the globe. What are these risks?
Let's travel across the Asian nuclear landscape with our eyes wide open. First stop: Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state with the world's fastest growing nuclear arsenal and military stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium (Pu). It is believed that there are Islamist sympathizers among its military, and a number of terrorist organizations operating from its soil. The risks of nuclear sabotage and theft at Pakistan's military and civilian sites must not be underestimated.