Japan, U.S. to launch talks on cooperation in nuclear forensics

TOKYO, Jan. 30 Kyodo -
Japan and the United States will launch working-level talks in February aimed
at promoting cooperation in the field of nuclear forensics, a sophisticated
process to analyze the composition of nuclear materials, sources of both
governments said Saturday.
Representatives of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology, and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, an
organization under the Department of Energy, will attend the talks.
It would be the first intergovernmental consultation on nuclear forensics
between Japan and the United States.
Nuclear forensics focuses on analyzing the nature, use and origin of nuclear
materials, such as highly enriched uranium and plutonium that can be used to
produce nuclear arms, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Analysis of radioisotopes, isotopic and mass ratios, material age, impurity
content, chemical form and physical parameters can reveal a ''nuclear
fingerprint,'' the IAEA says.
The possible revelation of such nuclear fingerprints is expected to help deter
nuclear powers from providing nuclear materials to third parties and prevent
nuclear terrorism.
U.S. President Barack Obama reached an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo in November to promote bilateral cooperation on nuclear
nonproliferation, including the field of nuclear forensics.
The United States will host the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April
11 to 12. It expects to make use of Japan's technological capabilities in the
field of safeguards to prevent diversion of civil nuclear materials to military
use and to enhance measures to prevent nuclear terrorism.
In response to a recent inquiry by Kyodo News, an official at the U.S. National
Nuclear Security Administration expressed hope for stepped up cooperation with
Japan through the upcoming working-level meeting.
''A Japanese delegation from MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology) is scheduled to visit Washington next month for
discussions on the possible new agreement,'' the official said.
''While NNSA seeks to establish cooperation with foreign counterparts to
strengthen the nonproliferation regime, the extent of our cooperation with MEXT
on nuclear forensics has not yet been determined.''
A Japanese science ministry official confirmed that talks will take place on
cooperation in the field of nuclear forensics.
A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, meanwhile, said Japan ''can
contribute much (in the nuclear forensics field) with its high-level scientific
and technological capabilities.''
The United States and European countries have formed a multilateral framework,
called the Nuclear Smuggling International Technical Working Group, which works
with the IAEA to provide assistance to nuclear forensic scientists around the
world. The group, established in the mid-1990s, is aimed at finding technical
solutions to the problem of illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive
materials.
Concerned about possible nuclear proliferation among terrorist groups, the
United States plans to enhance nuclear forensics technologies and establish a
database of nuclear fingerprints.
The official at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration also said his
organization ''supports broad participation, including by Japan, in this
important effort.''
==Kyodo