At its meeting next week, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will try to toughen security rules for atomic energy and discuss ways to better enforce a 1997 treaty that bars nuclear weapons from the region.
With nuclear power growing more common in the region, ASEAN says it wants to ensure that atomic material and technology does not get used for non-peaceful ends.
The decade-old treaty prohibits the development or testing of nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia and bans ships carrying those weapons from passing through their waters.
Southeast Asia has had difficulty enforcing the ban on ships carrying nuclear weapons because most ships routinely refuse to confirm whether they have them aboard.
ASEAN says it will seek the expertise of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency to improve its ability to detect any violation of the treaty.
Information for this report is provided by AP and AFP.
