Dear Friends and Colleagues,
From my perspective, the uncertain ending to the COVID 19 pandemic playing out across the globe has had one certain impact – a scheduling pile-up of all the in-person nuclear security-related meetings, workshops, and conferences postponed or delayed since March 2020, including the long-delayed NPT Review Conference. At the same time, the pace of virtual events (and I seem to have participated – virtually – in more international activities than ever during the pandemic) seems not to have slowed. Moreover, responding to the nuclear saber rattling and the risks of nuclear and radiological incidents attendant with the war in Ukraine has become a regular part of the workload of many INSF members. Lately, the war has also seen countries reevaluate their policies on energy security and nuclear power, augmenting the already increased interest in making nuclear power part of national approaches to decarbonization and climate change. These two issues will likely keep nuclear security high on the political agenda even when the war and pandemic ends.
Hope, Endurance, and Courage,
Rick
Director, International Nuclear Security Forum
Join the conversation on Twitter: @INS_Forum
Updates
- The INSF hosted its second Advisory Board Meeting of the year on May 27, 2022. The meeting took place virtually and reviewed the status of the Forum, ongoing INSF activities, and future plans.
- On May 26, 2022, INSF members took part in a hybrid roundtable discussion on nuclear security with former Forum Chair, Ambassador Laura S.H. Holgate, representative of the U.S. to the international organizations in Vienna.
- Members of the INSF coordination team were briefed at the Francis E. Warren U.S. Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming on May 25, 2022 about security measures for nuclear warheads and ICBMs on missile fields.
- The INSF is facilitating civil society participation in the IAEA webinar series on emerging technologies. If you are an INSF member who would like to be added to the invitation list, please fill out this form.
Nuclear Security News
Impact: The Invasion of Ukraine
- How Has Vladimir Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Upended the World Nuclear Order: “The prior global nuclear order was based on nuclear nonproliferation as its central element with Russia playing a central role in an international system involving other agreements, practices, and norms of cooperation. With a formerly responsible nuclear state that is still actively involved in the nuclear arena now an outcast in the international community, how should democracies respond?”
- Japan pledges $2.1 mil. to help IAEA ensure nuclear safety in Ukraine: “Japan has pledged about 2.1 million dollars to support efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to help ensure the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine. Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa said the fund will be used to help the IAEA send experts and provide equipment to Ukraine.”
- Finnish group abandons plans for Russia-backed nuclear power plant: “The Fennovoima project has been mired in controversy from the outset with Finland’s then environment minister telling the Financial Times in 2014 that it was an example of ‘Finlandisation’, a loaded term that refers to a smaller country adapting its policies to suit a larger, more powerful neighbor. the Hanhikivi 1 project was particularly controversial because Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear company, was not just the supplier of the reactor but also the main shareholder and financial backer of the Fennovoima consortium.”
International Architecture
- States Review Nuclear Security Treaty: “States met for the first time to review implementation of a treaty that aims to prevent the malicious use of nuclear materials by setting security and physical protection requirements for peaceful nuclear programs. Representatives from 106 of the 129 states that are party to the amended convention participated in the March 28-April 1 conference at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.”
- IAEA to Support Nuclear Law Education at Six Universities: “Hundreds of aspiring professionals stand to benefit from IAEA-supported programmes on nuclear law in Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Jamaica, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, following the signature of partnership agreements with universities in the six countries last week. The agreements will help increase education and professional development opportunities for students and aspiring professionals in the field of international and national nuclear law.”
Weapons, Materials, and Facilities
- Utilities urged to look far and wide to tackle nuclear terrorism threat: “Despite a contrary assessment by nuclear regulators, a spate of recent security breaches at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant should not be considered endemic to the facility. The Nuclear Regulation Authority compiled an interim report on its follow-up inspections on the unauthorized use of an employee ID card and disabled intrusion detection equipment at the plant in Niigata Prefecture… The report was based on an examination of documents, inspections of facilities and interviews with personnel at all nuclear power plants operated by TEPCO and other regional utilities. Granted, it did provide a list of examples to show that Kashiwazaki-Kariwa compares poorly with other nuclear power plants in both setup and facilities for protecting nuclear materials. But the report did not discuss why this was the case with Kashiwazaki-Kariwa alone or how this potentially disastrous situation could have remained overlooked. It raises fears of a potential breach that could allow terrorists to seize control of the plant..”
- National Nuclear Security Administration awards Savannah River Site transportation contracts: “The National Nuclear Security Administration is in the process of awarding two contracts to transport materials to the Savannah River Site. It issued a notice Thursday that it intends to continue to use NAC International of Norcross, Ga. to deliver tritium producing burnable absorber rods to the Savannah River Site in secure casks.”
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK will build one new nuclear plant a year: “Nuclear power supplied around 21% of the U.K.’s energy needs during 2020, up from 9.4% in 2000. The government has outlined a plan to expand the country’s nuclear power generation to 24 gigawatts by 2050, or about 25% of electricity demand.”
Security Culture
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission Urged to Amend Security Rule Language: “The American Nuclear Society and The Breakthrough Institute are pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to alter and clarify its regulatory language governing the physical protection of nuclear plants and materials.”
- IAEA says remote transmission of safeguards data from Chernobyl fully restored: “Remote transmission of safeguards data from the Chernobyl NPP has been fully re-established, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on 11 May. This resulted from the deployment of new transmission channels based on satellite technologies and of other technical work conducted by the Agency since the visit of safeguards inspectors and technicians to the plant in April.”
- UK Sets Out Nuclear Cybersecurity Strategy: “The UK government has laid out its cybersecurity plans for the country’s civil nuclear sector, focused on more testing, security by design, and improve collaboration. The nuclear industry will also aim to set a baseline of supply chain security standards, collaborate on third party and component assurance/management and work with nuclear technology developers on security by design.”
- Austin holding ‘radiological incident’ exercise next week: “The exercise, called Cobalt Magnet 22, will be led by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) from Monday to the following Friday. Cobalt Magnet 22 will simulate a radiological attack to allow personnel from more than 30 local, state and federal agencies to hone their response systems.”
Threats
- Police force that protects the UK’s nuclear plants use cameras from sanctioned Chinese firm Hikvision: “The force says it is not responsible for the cameras used at the power plants, and that the Hikvision cameras are only used at the constabulary’s training and administration facilities. Hikvision, a Chinese state-backed surveillance camera firm, is under export and investment restrictions by the US.”
Emerging Technologies
- DOE Announces $6M for Research on Nuclear Data Benefiting Nuclear Science and Applications: “Increasingly, access to accurate, reliable nuclear data plays an essential role in the success of federal missions such as nonproliferation, nuclear forensics, homeland security, national defense, space exploration, clean energy generation, and scientific research. A particular focus of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was proposals targeting improvement in the nuclear data pipeline, proposals for multi-disciplinary high impact projects, and proposals for projects with strong connections to basic science.”
Material Minimization
- DOE working on its uranium strategy – Granholm: “Granholm testified at the committee’s 5 May hearing on the US administration’s budget request for the DOE for fiscal 2023. During the hearing, the committee’s chairman, Senator Joe Manchin, highlighted the need for the USA to strengthen its energy and national security and eliminate reliance on resources from ‘hostile’ nations, and asked how the budget request would help to achieve that goal.”
- U.S. removes over 30 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Japan: “The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology worked together on the removal as part of their mutual nonproliferation goal of reducing HEU around the world. The shipment was undertaken in close cooperation with the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Transport Solutions and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. The removal fulfills a commitment first announced at a 2018 U.S.-Japan Bilateral Commission on Civil Nuclear Cooperation meeting in Tokyo.”
Member Organization Announcements and Updates
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
- Senior Policy Director John Erath was interviewed by the Daily Express (UK), where he commented on the possibility of a Russian nuclear attack on NATO. Read the full transcript.
CRDF Global
- In partnership with Global Affairs Canada (GAC), CRDF Global recently completed a grant program for international women working in nuclear security and nonproliferation fields. The program promotes gender equality by giving participants a forum to share tools and tactics for addressing barriers in their careers. Launched in early 2021, the grant competition selected 10 women from 10 countries to engage in a remote learning skill development training series, implement individual grant projects at their home institutions, and a capstone experience with a two-day workshop in Vienna, Austria. Learn more.
GNSP Global
- Nick Tomkinson authored a white paper, “Rethinking our readiness for rapid response radiation monitoring in the face of nuclear incidents” with Professor Tom Scott (Bristol Uni) and Dr Arnab Basu (CEO, Kromek). Read more.
The Stimson Center
- On May 26, 2022, the Stimson Center hosted Ambassador Laura S. H. Holgate for a hybrid roundtable discussion on nuclear security in Ukraine with civil society members in Washington, D.C.
- The Stimson Center’s Air Force Fellow, Col. Mary C. Yelnicker, arranged a site visit for Christina McAllister and Sneha Nair at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A on May 25, 2022. They received a briefing about ICBM operation and nuclear security for Minutemen nuclear warheads.
- On May 17, Stimson hosted the Director-General of the Australian Nuclear Safeguards and Nonproliferation Office, Geoff Shaw, for a roundtable discussion on safeguards, nuclear security, and regional nuclear interests.
Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies
- Ruhee Neog, Director at IPCS published “Iran, US and the JCPOA: Fidelity to the Cause” where she analyzes what has been achieved in renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and what issues are likely to be encountered through the course of the coming year. Read the article.
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
- April 1 and 29: The STAC team organized a webinar, funded by the European Union and as a part of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium, covering non-nuclear weapons and strategic stability in Europe, following their paper on the topic, “Non-Nuclear Weapons with Strategic Effect: New Tools of Warfare?” Read the paper.
- On April 1, William Alberque and Fabian Hoffman published an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled, “Three scenarios for nuclear risk over Ukraine — and how NATO can respond.” View the op-ed.
- John Krzyzaniak co-authored a piece with Akshai Vikram entitled “To Check Iran’s Missiles, JCPOA Re-Entry is a Must.” Read the piece.
- William Alberque wrote two chapters in the CNS report OP55: “Everything Counts: Building a Control Regime for Nonstrategic Nuclear Warheads in Europe.” Read the report.
- Timothy Wright wrote a white paper for the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium’s Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Papers, entitled “Hypersonic Missile Proliferation: An Emerging European Problem.” Read the paper.
- On May 6, Douglas Barrie wrote an op-ed for the IISS Military Balance blog, “Sub-optimal deterrence, SLCM-N and the US posture.” Read the post.
Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS)
- Nuclear Transport Solutions played a key role in a collaborative effort to remove over 30 kilograms of high enriched uranium from Japan to the USA earlier this year. US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan announced the non-proliferation triumph, which was the result of years of cooperation, in Tokyo on Monday, 23 May 2022. The shipment, which was completed in March 2022, removed all HEU from three Japanese sites: the University of Tokyo’s Yayoi Research Reactor, Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Deuterium Critical Assembly, and Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Japan Research Reactor 4. The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) worked on the removal with Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and in close cooperation with the UK’s Nuclear Transport Solutions and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. The HEU was securely transported to the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It will be down-blended to low enriched uranium and/or dispositioned, permanently reducing the risk it could be used to produce an improvised nuclear device. Read more.
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)
- NTI hosted Ambassador Jean-Louis Falconi, Head of the French Atomic Energy Commission International Relations Division and Governor at the IAEA for a closed roundtable discussion with leaders from the DC nuclear NGO community on May 19, 2022.
- On April 12, 2022, the Nuclear Threat Initiative celebrated its 20th anniversary at its annual Board of Directors dinner with toasts and a future-focused panel discussion on the importance of innovation in building a safer world. The 20th anniversary event was a long-time coming, held more than a year after the actual January 8, 2021 anniversary due to the global pandemic.
University of Antwerp
- In cooperation with Brussels Airport Company, Bel-V, Elia, Engie-Electrabel, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) and G4S, the University of Antwerp is doing research on insider threats. In the context of this project, they carried out two specific studies. One was an online questionnaire among Belgian organizations to assess their awareness and behavior regarding the insider threat problem. The other was an iteratively questioned a panel of experts on insider threat mitigation to discover potential factors that may point to insider threat incidents as well as good practices of insider threat mitigation. Contact Mathias Reveraert ([email protected]) if interested in a copy of the results.
University of Texas, Austin; Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project
- Alan J. Kuperman published a piece in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on May 22, 2022: “How Australia’s new leader can fix the submarine deal.” Read it here.
- Alan J. Kuperman delivered a talk, “Nuclear Facilities and Terrorism,” at the Symposium (virtual) on Nuclear Crisis and Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy: Implications of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Operation, Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, Tokyo, Japan, on April 28, 2022. Learn more.
Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP)
- On 28-29 April 2022, the IAI and the VCDNP organized the Final Meeting of the first edition of the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative in Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Mentorship Programme. Learn more.
- On 5 May, the VCDNP and IAI visited the University of Turin as part of the EUNPDC effort to engage the next generation in non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control through the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI), discussing security, nuclear weapons, and the impact of the war in Ukraine. Read more.
- VCDNP’s Ingrid Kirsten and Mara Zarka argue for the need to invest in peaceful uses of nuclear science, technology and applications to strike a better balance among the NPT’s three pillars and to promote global human security. Read the piece.
- On May 18, VCDNP Senior Research Associate Dr. Hanna Notte testified to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on the implications of Russia’s war against Ukraine for Moscow’s interests, role and diplomacy in the Middle East. Learn more.
- As part of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA), a 12-month high-level professional development program through the Negotiation Task Force (NTF) of Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, VCDNP Visiting Fellow Marianne Nari Fisher published the report “Reassessing Europe’s Nuclear Order: Perspectives for a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone” as a co-author. Read the report.
- On 11 May 2022, the VCDNP and UNODA hosted a public panel discussion on global challenges and opportunities for multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control with UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu. Watch the recording.
Individual Member Updates
- Artem Lazarev at UNODC shared the following updates:
- UNODC’s manual on fictional cases related to offences under the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) is now available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, and Spanish. Translations into Portuguese and Russian will follow shortly. Read the manual.
- A factsheeton ICSANT as well as a leaflet on ICSANT criminalization provisions are now published in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, and Spanish. Translations into Portuguese and Russian will follow shortly. View the factsheet.
- The website and publications are funded by the European Union. Physical copies can be requested from [email protected]. Find digital copies here.
- UNODC representatives participated in the First International Conference on Nuclear Law: The Global Debate which was hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency on 25–29 April in Vienna. They took part in a plenary session entitled Nuclear Security: Issues and Trends and delivered a presentation on the prevention and suppression of nuclear terrorism and relevant UNODC activities. They also participated in a technical session entitled Emerging Threats and Legal Instruments, made a presentation on the role of ICSANT in strengthening the legal framework to deal with emerging threats.
Jobs
- CRDF Global has numerous opportunities available to join their nuclear security team. View the job descriptions.
- The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Graduate Fellowship Program applications are now open. Learn more.
- Octant Associates is looking for applicants to fill two job positions working to support high level DoD clients on nuclear issues related to safety, security, reliability, surety, and deterrence analysis. The role description is as follows: Perform a wide array of tasks related to the U.S. nuclear deterrent mission and posture. Support development of policy related to nuclear weapons safety, security and reliability. Provide research and analysis on nuclear weapons capabilities, including right sizing the deterrent while maintaining its effectiveness. Support Senior Level bodies by providing analysis and recommendations related to the future of the nuclear deterrent. Conduct analysis on the policy, management, research, development, deployment, transportation, surety, storage, and training for the stewardship of nuclear weapons. Plan, direct, and manage complex projects involving stakeholders and senior level officials across the nuclear enterprise. Conduct research, analysis, and provide client-ready written products (memos, briefs, etc.) for senior DOD leaders. Ability to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to multifaceted problems among stakeholders with competing interests. Strong teamwork ethos.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience working in DoD or DOE, preferable with experience working on nuclear, arms control or WMD issues
- Understanding of staff level/action officer requirements
- Understanding of the range of technical issues impacting the nuclear enterprise, strategic forces and plans for modernization of the nuclear stockpile.
- Ability to communicate and facilitate consensus-building across multiple stakeholders
- Solid writing and communication skills
- Comfort with fast-paced, senior-level clients
- Understanding of DoD processes and procedures
- Understanding of CWMD and major stakeholders’ interests
- Adept at using OFFICE, including PowerPoint
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a relevant scientific area or related discipline such as national security studies Master’s degree preferred;
- TOP SECRET clearance
- Pay range: $85,000.00 – $101,000.00 per year
- If interested in this position, please send your cover letter and resume to Tami Stukey ([email protected]).
