Nuclear security

Russian Boycott Of Nuclear Terrorism Summit Leaves U.S. 'Scratching Our Heads'

When dozens of world leaders and top-level delegations from around the globe descend on the U.S. capital this week to discuss how to better protect nuclear materials from terrorists, officials from one nuclear power won't be there.

Russia, which has the world's largest nuclear arsenal and a sprawling military and civilian nuclear industry long plagued by security concerns, will not be represented at the Nuclear Security Summit that opens on March 31.

Its boycott of the summit, which will be the fourth and possibly last such high-level effort aimed at preventing a terrorist group from obtaining nuclear materials, has triggered confusion and concern among officials and analysts in the United States and elsewhere.

"Frankly, we're scratching our heads a bit," Rose Gottemoeller, the U.S. State Department's top official for arms control treaties, said at a March 29 briefing in Washington.