AKIPRESS.COM - Japan has agreed to reduce its stockpile of highly enriched uranium – nuclear fuel that could be used for bombs – and to share more information with the U.S. about its nuclear activities, affirming its commitment to a peaceful nuclear program, reports KING 5.

The agreement, which will reduce the possibility of nuclear fuel being stolen by terrorists, was announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

It illustrates Japan’s adherence to a policy that is “strictly committed to non-nuclear arms,” said Yasuhisa Kawamura, the spokesperson for the Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

Japan is the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons, used by the U.S. to end World War II. Japan has sworn not to produce, develop or import them and is taking these steps to assure the world that it remains committed to that goal, Kawamura said.

“It is unthinkable that Japan use or possess nuclear weapons,” he added.

The agreement calls on Japan to remove all highly-enriched uranium and separated plutonium fuel from the Fast Critical Assembly in Japan, and all the highly enriched uranium from a research reactor at Kyoto University. The material will be sent to the U.S. to be blended down into a less potent form of uranium. The Kyoto facility will also be converted to use low-enriched uranium for its research activities, according to a joint statement.

The announcement comes as world leaders are increasingly concerned about the possibility that terrorists could get hold of nuclear material, amid recent North Korean nuclear threats, tests and ballistic missile launches.