Nuclear Security News and Member Updates Roundup, January 2022

Dear INSF Members,

This will be a consequential year for our community, full of chances to advocate for stronger nuclear security around the world. The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference will be a forum for highlighting how nuclear security contributes to the overall nuclear nonproliferation regime. The Amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material review conference will be an opportunity for countries to engage in a robust nuclear security dialogue and identify ways to strengthen implementation of the convention. The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review will have cascading effects throughout all aspects of nuclear policy, including nuclear security.  

While I look forward to joining you in these efforts to strengthen nuclear security, it will be in a new role. In February, I will be joining the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) as a senior director within its Nuclear Material Security program. I am excited for this new opportunity, but also sad to be leaving leadership of the International Nuclear Security Forum behind. I am comforted by the fact that the INSF is in capable hands: Rick Cupitt will take over as the Forum’s interim director and Sneha Nair will continue in her essential role as coordinator. Thank you to all of you that have provided me with the opportunity to shepherd this project over the past year. In particular, thank you to the entire INSF Board for their advice, leadership, and support. 

The INSF has limitless potential, and I am eager to see what’s next for this network. I look forward to supporting it and working with all of you in my new role at NTI. If you have questions about the INSF, contact Sneha at [email protected]. If you need to contact me, I can be reached at my new email address at [email protected]. 

Thank you,
Nick

Join the conversation on Twitter: @INS_Forum

Updates

Congratulations to the new additions to the INSF Advisory Board, Scott Roecker, Trevor Findlay, and Ruhee Neog.

Scott Roecker is Deputy Vice President at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Before joining NTI, he was the director of the Office of Nuclear Material Removal at the National Nuclear Security Administration, director for Nuclear Threat Reduction at the National Security Council, and the sous-sherpa for the United States at the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit.

Trevor Findlay is a Principal Fellow at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He was a joint fellow/Senior Fellow with the International Security Program and Project on Managing the Atom at the Belfer Center from 2011–2015. Prior to that, he was a professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and holder of the William and Jeanie Barton Chair in International Affairs. He spent thirteen years in the Australian diplomatic service, and served as Executive Director of the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre.

Ruhee Neog is Director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in India, in addition to working as a research fellow with the Belfer Center’s Project on Managing the Atom and International Security Program. She is also a Cooperative Monitoring Center Fellow with Sandia National Laboratories in the United States.

We also bid farewell to long-standing Board Member, Benn Tannenbaum, who stepped down from his position this month. Thank you to Benn for his many years of services to this group.

Nuclear Security News

International Architecture

• IAEA publication guides nations on assessing nuclear security threats: “The IAEA continues to advise national authorities on best practices for nuclear security with a newly updated implementation guide — National Nuclear Security Threat Assessment, Design Basis Threats and Representative Threat Statements. It is part of the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Series (NSS) and provides guidance on how countries can implement security recommendations based on their nuclear and radioactive facilities and conduct security threat assessments to thwart risks from, inter alia, terrorists, criminals and extremists.”
• IAEA publishes free e-book on nuclear law: “This edited volume presents a truly global perspective on the current and emerging issues in nuclear law, grouped around its four pillars: nuclear safety, security, safeguards and civil liability for nuclear damage… Some experts reflect on the successes and challenges of establishing regulatory bodies, national nuclear security regimes, as well as entire national nuclear power programmes.”
  *INSF Board Member Trevor Findlay authored the chapter, “Safeguards for the Future”

Material Minimization

• U.S. halts HEU exports for medical purposes: “The United States will no longer export highly enriched uranium (HEU) to countries producing medical isotopes, marking a significant milestone in nonproliferation and nuclear security efforts… HEU poses a nuclear security and proliferation risk given that it can be used for nuclear weapons. Granholm described the certification as a ‘win-win’ that makes the world safer and improves health care.”

Weapons, Materials, and Facilities

• Single operator controls 130+ drones at DARPA exercise: “The heart of the technology is software that assigns ‘drones with the right capabilities to the appropriate set of tasks,’ Raytheon BBN OFFSET principal investigator Shane Clark explained. The drones then collaborate “most efficiently” to execute the task. ‘For example, if the task is to surveil a building, multiple drones will be dispatched with each surveilling portion of the building. The software considers each platform’s sensor capabilities, and tasks drones with downward-facing cameras to surveil the roof,’ Clark said.”
• Defend Chernobyl during an invasion? Why bother, some Ukrainians ask: “Two months ago, the government deployed additional forces into the area, because of increased tensions with Russia and Belarus, a Kremlin ally whose border is 5 miles from the stricken reactor and where Russia has recently moved troops. While patrolling the zone, the soldiers must carry devices on a lanyard around their necks that continuously monitor exposure; under the protocols for patrolling the zone, if a soldier stumbles into a highly irradiated patch, he is taken off duty to avoid further exposure.”

Security Culture

• LANL vax mandate one of three remaining at major NNSA sites: “Three of the four major National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear-weapon sites still have active COVID-19 vaccine mandates in spite of a federal judge’s December order that barred enforcement of the government’s federal contractor mandate.”

Threats

• The Navy is betting big on high-power microwave weapons: “[T]his emerging class of weapon systems uses bursts of microwave energy to disrupt or destroy the electronics inside various enemy systems, including drones, small boats, and missiles. As asymmetric threats continue to pose threats to high-value military assets, these weapons could soon provide the Navy with an extra layer of defense if its research and development efforts pan out.”
• Swedish Security Service investigates drones at three nuclear plants: “Police in Sweden deployed patrols and helicopters to the Forsmark nuclear plant to hunt for a drone seen flying over the site late on Friday, but were unable to catch the unmanned vehicle… The incidents came a day after Sweden’s military started patrolling the main town on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland amid increased tensions between NATO and Russia and a recent deployment of Russian landing craft in the Baltic… ‘In general, the security threats against Sweden have increased with a broader and more in-depth intelligence threat and a more complex threat picture,’ the Security Service said in the statement.”

Member Organization Announcements and Updates

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

• Gawdat Bahgat published a piece for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists entitled, “Iran nuclear deal negotiators must act with urgency, given Iranian and Israeli nuclear brinkmanship,” that examines the threats posed to nuclear facilities in Iran and Israel and their implications for global stability and security. Read the piece.
• Lauren Sukin examined the implications of the NPT review conference being further delayed in her piece, “Key nuclear treaty review plagued by COVID delays as distrust grows,” in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Read the article.

Henry L. Stimson Center

• Nickolas Roth and Sneha Nair co-authored “Nuclear Security Year in Review, 2021,” outlining the challenges nuclear security practitioners faced over the past year, including COVID-19 and the trend of adversaries employing more dangerous technologies. They also looked ahead to identify key opportunities for strengthening nuclear security in the near future, including the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference, the Amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material Review Conference, and the anticipated release of the Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review. Read the commentary.

Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

• The Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies has open rolling application for its internship program. The Institute welcomes applications from outstanding undergraduates, postgraduate students, recent graduates, and MPhil or PhD scholars pursuing studies in Politics, History, International Relations, or related fields. The immersive internship program offers scholars and recent graduates an opportunity to observe geopolitical and security developments from an Indian perspective, training in policy analysis and writing, and facilitates their access to India’s strategic community. View the vacancy.

The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies

• CNS has published a report on their Black Sea Women in Nonproliferation Network Initiative. This project led by Margarita Kalinina-Pohl is sponsored by the U.S. DOE NNSA and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, and implemented by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in partnership with the Odessa Center for Nonproliferation and WiN Ukraine. The network serves as a platform to promote gender equity, professional exchange, mentorship, training opportunities, and women’s leadership roles in nuclear security and nonproliferation. Read the report.
• The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), in conjunction with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration, will be conducting a tuition-free, one-week International Safeguards Policy and Information Analysis-Intensive Summer Course, scheduled for June 6-10, 2022 at MIIS. Applications close March 11, 2022. Apply here.  

CRDF Global 

• CRDF Global is aiming to hire a Program Manager in international research, data and technology. The Program Manager will oversee implementation of programming to counter the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), advanced conventional weapons, and other emerging threats by state actors. View the vacancy.
• CRDF Global is aiming to hire a Program Manager in Counterproliferation. The Program Manager will oversee implementation of programming to counter the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and advanced conventional weapons by state actors. Learn more.

Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)

• NTI lead a workshop on January 18-19 on domestic violent extremism and the nuclear security threat.
• NTI is pleased to announce the addition of two new experts to NTI’s nuclear security teams. On February 1, Eric Brewer and Nickolas Roth will join the newly named Nuclear Material Security Program as senior directors. Read the announcement.
• NTI Co-Chair Sam Nunn and Vice President Laura S.H. Holgate call for a new paradigm to address today’s nuclear security challenges in a paper released on January 3, 2022, Cooperative Risk Management and Reduction: A New Framework for Nuclear Materials Security. Read the paper.

Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP)

• VCDNP’s spring short course for diplomats and practitioners on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, to take place 14-18 March 2022 is now accepting applications. Apply by 4 February 2022. Learn more.
• On 15 December 2021, the VCDNP launched its Task Force Report and Recommendations on expanding the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology to address pressing global challenges while maintaining non-proliferation and nuclear security objectives. Read the summary.
• In a new paper published by VCDNP Visiting Research Fellow, Ekaterina Lapanovich and co-author Sara Bundtzen argue that nuclear-weapon States and non-nuclear-weapon States should begin inclusive deliberations about nuclear deterrence and nuclear disarmament, focusing on the principal drivers of the Humanitarian Initiative and advance the ongoing conversation on various perspectives of nuclear risk reduction. Read the paper.