World leaders from 53 countries, including US president Barack Obama and UN secretary Ban Ki-Moon, are in the Netherlands on Monday for the nuclear security summit in The Hague.

The event has taken months of preparations and is the biggest security operation ever mounted in the Netherlands.

Large parts of central The Hague have been sealed off and motorways from Schiphol airport closed to all but conference traffic.

However, motoring organisations said people appeared to have taken the advice to work at home on Monday and Tuesday and jams are no longer than normal. Extra trains have also been laid on.

Amsterdam

Obama will make a short visit to Amsterdam on Monday morning and the Museumplein has largely been sealed off by containers as part of the security operation. People living around the square have been warned not to use their roof terraces and balconies during the visit.

In a written interview in the Volkskrant, Obama praised the Dutch preparations for the summit. ‘The Netherlands is one of our most powerful allies and I am impressed at the way prime minister Mark Rutte is working for nuclear security,’ he said.

Nuclear power

In Amsterdam, anti-nuclear power demonstrators have gathered in front of the Beurs van Berlage conference centre in protest at a nuclear power industry meeting which is taking place there.

The ‘Nuclear Industry Summit’ coincides with the NSS in The Hague and the demonstrators say it is hypocritical.

‘In The Hague they are talking about reducing the spread of and better security for nuclear materials while in Amsterdam the sector is meeting to discuss spreading the technology,’ one protestor told RTL news.

Trade

Dutch foreign trade minister Lilianne Ploumen told website nu.nl hosting the summit will be good for the Netherlands.

‘Although nuclear safety will be central in the coming days, there is also a large economic programme,’ she said. ‘This summit will highlight the Netherlands as an open economy and trading nation.’

But shopkeepers and restaurant owners are angry they are not being compensated for loss of trade. Many have been ordered to close during the two-day period.

Experts have put the cost of the security operation at between €150m and €250m.

Dutch design

The Volkskrant has a list of 11 things everyone should know about the summit and points out that delegates will sit on chairs designed by Dutch furniture maker Atelier Van Lieshout. Even the wine that will be served during the event is Dutch, the NSS project leader Marc Gerritsen told the paper.

The lunch menu will be be both organic and halal. Spinach has been banned because of the risk it could get stuck between people’s teeth and spoil the photo, the Volkskrant said.

However, the AD reports that only men over the age of 25 will be allowed to serve the guests. The inclusion of ‘three blonde women’ would distort the unified image, Hans van der Linde of catering company Van der Linde Catering told the AD.