The University played host to three United Nations representatives Tuesday morning as students and faculty bounced ideas around about nuclear security.

The Center for International Trade and Security held a roundtable discussion called “April 2010 Nuclear Summit: Expectations and Realities” in the University Chapel in anticipation of April’s international nuclear summit.

The summit in Washington, D.C., led by President Barack Obama, will host ambassadors from different countries to debate the future of nuclear security.

At the forum in Athens, nuclear experts discussed the upcoming Washington summit.

“It’ll be a who’s who of world power,” said Chris Tucker, a research associate at CITS who helped organize Tuesday’s event.

Though the University meeting did not include Obama, other prominent politicians attended. United Nations representatives Thomas Wuchte, Nicolas Kasprzyk and Nikita Smidovich spoke Tuesday.

With the addition of these representatives, the University discussion helped “spread awareness about nuclear security,” said Jessica Applegate, a senior international affairs major from Warner Robins who aided in coordinating the event.

“Having these discussions brings in more people and awareness,” she said.

Nuclear security and the threat of nuclear terrorism were just a few of the many topics discussed at the meeting.

Applegate said she believes the meeting was productive.

“The general consensus for the panel today was to just continue working forward,” she said.

Applegate said she thinks attending the University forum was valuable, especially because of the question and answer session after the representatives lectured.

“It’s important to go to these events because [these are] ideas you can’t get in the classroom,” she said. “It was exciting to have the opportunity to ask questions.”

She also said she considers the meeting to be vital for more than just experts and students in the international affairs field.

“I wanted other people to come,” Applegate said. “It’s really important for our future and our generation.”

Tucker said the dialogue should lead to initiatives which will fuel discussion at the April international summit, and he said the summit could benefit from more popular support. 

“I think it’s important to raise as much awareness about these issues as possible because the more people who care, the more impact it’ll have on the summit next month,” he said.