Training Centers Key to Post-Summit Security

Training centers developed in response to the Nuclear Security Summits are a key tool for sustaining international security and cooperation after the fourth and final meeting ends this week, a US nonproliferation expert said Tuesday during a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel discussion in Washington, D.C. “In the post-summit environment, I would say these support centers, no matter how big and no matter how small, they really become the workhorses for maintaining focus on nuclear security in the future,” said Art Atkins, assistant deputy administrator for the office of global material security of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The nuclear security centers of excellence (COE), he said, provide domestic security training as well as a forum for technology demonstrations and bilateral and regional information exchanges. More than 20 countries have developed COEs since the first summit was held in 2010, according to an NSS statement. China commissioned its COE March 18, according to a release. Atkins said he was in China for the opening. “From a cooperation standpoint, that’s the beginning, not the end,” he said.