Events | 2010.03.19
Sellafield to be inspected by nuclear watchdog, says Gordon Brown
Prime minister announces security probe at reprocessing plant as part of worldwide drive to stop spread of fissile materials
The international nuclear watchdog is to carry out a security inspection at the Sellafield reprocessing plant as part of a worldwide drive to stop the spread of fissile materials, Gordon Brown announced today.
The prime minister said Britain is also launching a "centre of nuclear excellence" where the UK could "lead global efforts to secure the safe global expansion of civil nuclear power".
Brown described 2010 as a "make or break year" for international co-operation on a number of policy fronts – from the economy, to security and climate change – in a speech to the Foreign Press Association in London earlier today.
Highlighting the merits of collective action, Brown also announced that the first meeting of the advisory group on climate financing would be held in London at the end of the month.
On security, Brown said it was essential to prevent nuclear weapons falling into the hands of rogue states and international terrorists.
Britain is joining Barack Obama\'s drive to secure all fissile nuclear material across the world over the next four years, he said.
"In line with this we will invite the International Atomic Energy Authority to carry out a security inspection at Sellafield. We will make funds available for similar inspections in areas of greatest concern," he said.
Brown said he had struck an agreement on further nuclear co-operation with France in talks last week with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president , but stressed that both countries would retain their own independent deterrents.
"We have agreed a degree of co-operation that is, I think, greater than we have had previously but we will retain, as will France, our independent nuclear deterrent," he said.
"We wish, of course, to see multilateral disarmament around the world and we are ready to contribute towards that, but in a world that is so insecure, particularly with other countries trying to acquire nuclear weapons, we do not see the case for us withdrawing the independent nuclear deterrent that we have."
Brown also called for fresh international measures against countries such as Iran which were, he said, trying to acquire nuclear weapons.
"Countries like Iran who try secretly to develop nuclear weapons must face concerted and decisive action by the international community, including more far-reaching international sanctions," he said.
Describing himself as a "committed internationalist" and a "passionate European", Brown warned against "drift" in the international community in tackling global issues.
"The truth we have learned in the last two years is that global problems cannot be answered by national or even regional solutions alone; global problems need global solutions; because we need more, not less, global co-operation."
In a sideswipe to the Conservative grouping in Europe, he added: "We must turn outward not inward. So I disagree with those who misguidedly seek an isolationist and anti-European option."
On climate change, Brown said there was a need for "fast start" finance for developing countries to deliver the commitments in the accord signed in Copenhagen by more than 100 countries last December.
Brown said he would personally co-chair the first meeting of the climate finance group with Meles Zenawi, the prime minister of Ethiopia, on 31 March.
In a nod to next week\'s budget, Brown said his chancellor, Alistair Darling, would announce new plans to promote investment in clean energy and boost green jobs, as part of the drive to create a low-carbon economy.
Brown also outlined the next steps needed to stabilise the global economy and complete the task of rebuilding it.
Speaking ahead of the forthcoming summits for the G20 and G8 meetings in Canada and Korea, Brown said: "We must now show a fresh collective commitment to fully implement the G20 framework for strong, balanced and sustainable growth, to co-ordinate more effectively the regulation of our financial systems and to build a co-ordinated approach to levies on the banks to deliver a fairer balance between risk and reward."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/[...]international-nuclear-watchdog
