Obama to host nuclear summit in Washington next year

U.S. President Barack Obama will host a fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in 2016 to continue coordinating global efforts to fight nuclear terrorism, the White House announced Monday.

The summit is scheduled to be held from March 31 to April 1 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, the White House said in a statement.

"The Summit will continue discussion on the evolving threat and highlight steps that can be taken together to minimize the use of highly-enriched uranium, secure vulnerable materials, counter nuclear smuggling and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism," the statement said.

The U.S. seeks a strengthened global nuclear security architecture that is comprehensive, is based on international standards, builds confidence in nations' nuclear security implementation, and results in declining global stocks of nuclear weapons-usable materials, it said.

"We cannot afford to wait for an act of nuclear terrorism before working together to collectively raise our standards for nuclear security," it said.

In a 2009 speech delivered in Prague of Czech Republic, Obama, describing nuclear terrorism as "the most immediate and extreme threat to global security," announced an international effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, break up black markets, and detect and intercept illicitly trafficked nuclear materials.

The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington in 2010 to draw global attention to the need to secure nuclear materials and prevent terrorists from obtaining them. It was followed by additional Summits in Seoul of South Korea in 2012, and The Hague of the Netherlands in 2014.

These summits have "achieved tangible improvements in the security of nuclear materials and stronger international institutions that support nuclear security," the White House said.