Nuclear Security News and Member Updates Roundup, August 2023

Dear Friends,

I hope this newsletter finds you refreshed after the August lull. Despite a more concise August news roundup, the alarming headlines from the occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant continue to illustrate the erosion of nuclear security norms. Albania’s ratification of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) this month thus provides a much-needed bright spot in the landscape of nuclear security regimes. We hope everyone will take a moment to review the community’s updates and events coming up quickly next month – including an INSF country update on nuclear security in Türkiye.

Christina

Director, International Nuclear Security Forum

Join the conversation on Twitter: @INS_Forum

Updates

• Join us at 09:30 am EST on September 6, 2023, for an hour-long virtual discussion of Türkiye’s upcoming nuclear responsibilities and readiness with Ali Alkış, George Foster, and Christina McAllister. Register here.
• On August 14, 2023, Ali Alkış authored a policy memo as part of the INSF country update series titled “Nuclear Security for Nuclear Newcomers: Exploring Türkiye’s Readiness.”  This policy memo explores sixty years of nuclear pursuit – and the terrorism threats, security issues, and nuclear smuggling risks that remain for the nuclear newcomer. Read more here.

Nuclear Security News

Impact: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• Update 177 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine: “International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts have observed no mines or explosives on the rooftops of Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactor buildings and the turbine halls at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), after having been given access…Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said…Following repeated requests, the team had unimpeded access to the rooftops of the two reactor units and could also clearly view the rooftops of the turbine halls. The team will continue its requests to visit the roofs of the other 4 units at ZNPP…‘I welcome the news that IAEA experts have finally been granted this additional access at the site. Timely, independent and objective reporting of facts on the ground is crucial to continue the IAEA’s efforts to support nuclear safety and security during the military conflict in the country,’ Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. The access to the roofs…came just after a successful ninth rotation of teams at the plant with IAEA experts once again crossing the front line as the teams departed and arrived at the plant.”
• Ukraine: Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Initiates Reactor Shutdown Following Water Leak, Reports IAEA: “The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine has begun transitioning one of its reactor units from a hot shutdown to a cold shutdown after a water leak was detected in one of its steam generators, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said…The purpose of placing reactor unit 4 in cold shutdown is to investigate the exact cause of the leak and carry out necessary maintenance to repair the affected steam generator, according to a statement by Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA Director General. There was no radiological release to the environment, the statement noted, adding that over the next three days, the nuclear power plant will move unit 6 to hot shutdown to continue steam production. Unit 6 had been in cold shutdown since 21 April to facilitate safety system inspections and maintenance. ‘The IAEA team on the site will closely monitor the operations for the transition between the shutdown states of Units 4 and 6,’ said Mr. Grossi.”
• IAEA: Situation ‘Precarious’ After Multiple Explosions Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant: “Military operations near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, including multiple explosions in the past week, pose an ongoing nuclear security risk, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Aug. 22. IAEA experts reported five detonations in the area on Aug. 20 and five more on Aug. 21. ‘The overall nuclear safety and security situation remains precarious,’ IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. The agency’s representatives also described an Aug. 14 explosion that was so strong it ‘shook their windows.’ This was followed by sounds of gunfire on Aug. 16. Another explosion occurred near the plant on Aug. 17. The report also mentioned an Aug. 18 explosion in nearby Enerhodar, where most plant personnel live. The Russian military’s demolition of the Kakhovka dam on June 6 put the integrity of the ZNPP at further risk. The Zaporizhzhia plant relies on water from the Kakhovka Reservoir to cool its six reactors. The IAEA report said the ZNPP is planning to build up to a dozen wells around the site and has already successfully begun pumping water from a new groundwater well. According to the report, the ZNPP has enough cooling water ‘for many months.’”
• Groundwater Extraction Begins at Zaporizhzhia: “The collapse of the downstream dam on 6 June and the subsequent loss of much of the water in the Kakhovka reservoir, which the plant had been using for its cooling needs, forced the plant to take steps to protect the bodies of water still available to it, including a large cooling pond next to the site, and to start looking for alternative sources of water. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is maintaining a team of experts at the site, said a new groundwater well, located close to the plant’s sprinkler ponds, has already been commissioned and is now providing about 20 cubic meters of water per hour. An additional 10-12 wells around the perimeter of the sprinkler ponds are planned. The site’s large cooling pond and its other main supply of water – the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) – remain intact, the IAEA experts said. The height of the nuclear power plant’s cooling pond continues to drop by about 1 centimeter per day while water from the ZTPP inlet channel is regularly pumped into its discharge channel to compensate for water used for cooling or lost through natural evaporation. The IAEA said the site has sufficient cooling water for many months.”

International Architecture

• Nuclear Security Education: IAEA Partners with Universities and Research Institutions: “Aligning the available teaching materials on nuclear security with the latest IAEA guidance is an important stepping stone in the path to excellence in nuclear security education. This objective is among the key areas of work of the International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN), a partnership mechanism that facilitates the collaboration of the IAEA with educational and research institutions. ‘Education and training in the area of nuclear security is an essential component of the IAEA’s nuclear security programme,’ said Elena Buglova, Director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Security, during the INSEN Annual meeting convened in Vienna in July. ‘By sharing experiences and good practices, INSEN members can further enhance their capacities in order to effectively contribute to strengthening nuclear security regimes through a sustainable nuclear security education.’”
• New Publication: Interfaces and Synergies Between Nuclear Security and Safety: “The nexus between nuclear safety and nuclear security is an aspect that underpins the IAEA’s work and assistance offered to countries around the world. Now international experts, members of the Advisory Group on Nuclear Security (AdSec) and the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) have issued their first joint report addressing the question of interfaces and synergies between nuclear safety and nuclear security… The publication examines both the commonalities of and differences relating to nuclear security and nuclear safety, with a view to stimulating new thinking on how to further enhance their robustness and create greater synergy in the management of nuclear and other related activities. Key areas of this interface cover areas such as the allocation of various responsibilities and their coordination; institutional strength in depth; the management and leadership with focus on safety and security culture; human risk factors; computer security; information and communication; and emergency preparedness and response.”

Weapons, Materials, and Facilities

• Increasing Evidence That the US Air Force’s Nuclear Mission May Be Returning to UK Soil: “New U.S. Air Force budgetary documents strongly imply that the United States Air Force is in the process of re-establishing its nuclear weapons mission on UK soil. The Air Force’s FY 2024 budgetary justification package, dated March 2023, notes the planned construction of a ‘surety dormitory’ at RAF Lakenheath, approximately 100 kilometers northeast of London. The ‘surety dormitory’ was also briefly mentioned in the Department of Defense’s testimony to Congress in March 2023, but with no accompanying explanation. ‘Surety’ is a term commonly used within the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to refer to the capability to keep nuclear weapons safe, secure, and under positive control.”
• The First US Nuclear Reactor Built from Scratch in Decades Enters Commercial Operation in Georgia: “The first American nuclear reactor to be built from scratch in decades is sending electricity reliably to the grid, but the cost of the Georgia power plant could discourage utilities from pursuing nuclear power as a path to a carbon-free future. Georgia Power Co. announced…that Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, has completed testing and is now in commercial operation, seven years late and $17 billion over budget. At its full output of 1,100 megawatts of electricity, Unit 3 can power 500,000 homes and businesses. A number of other utilities in Georgia, Florida and Alabama are receiving the electricity, in addition to the 2.7 million customers of Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power.”
• ‘Low Level Radioactive Isotopes’ Found After Border Force Raid at Sydney Home: “Low level radioactive isotopes were found in a suburban Sydney home after it was raided by border authorities. In a statement released on Thursday evening, Fire and Rescue New South Wales confirmed it had discovered the hazardous materials… Fire and Rescue NSW said that its ‘specialist crews located low level radioactive isotopes, commonly used in several industries, at the location’. It said the material was found ‘in suitable and effective containers, with no release of radiation’, and that a 10-metre exclusion zone was established around the property as firefighters with protective clothing used ‘special detectors. An ABF spokesperson said the material was housed in ‘several vials.”

Security Culture

• DTRA Partners With Kazakhstan’s National Guard to Conduct a Nuclear Security Guard Force Qualifications Training Course: “DTRA’s Global Nuclear Security (GNS) Program partnered with Kazakhstan’s National Guard to conduct a Nuclear Security Guard Force Qualifications training course from July 17-25, 2023 at the Anti-Crisis Training Center (ACTC) in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. The training course included the development and delivery of repeatable exercises and drills to assess unit-level nuclear security guard force competencies and marks an important step in the Kazakhstan National Guard’s intent to create additional nuclear security specialization among its personnel. This course reflects a new training emphasis on specific units with nuclear security responsibilities including Ust-Kamenogorsk, Almaty, and Kurchatov. DTRA will continue partnering with the National Guard to establish a sustainable and growing nuclear security curriculum and instructor cadre, particularly at the ACTC.”

Threats

• AI, Nuclear ‘Catastrophe’ and Putin: UK Spells Out Deadly Threats to Brits: “The U.K. government’s National Risk Register, unveiled…by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, sets out key vulnerabilities and threats to the country. And it reveals previously classified information about the U.K. government’s thinking in a bid to encourage firms to up their mitigation strategies. The register details a total of 89 risks that meet the threshold of potentially having a ‘substantial impact on the U.K.’s safety, security and/or critical systems at a national level.’…Just to lighten the mood, the document flags a ‘significant’ chance — meaning a probability of between 5 and 25 percent that it will actually happen — of a ‘nuclear miscalculation not involving the U.K.’ That refers to the risk a state will mistakenly understand the intentions of another country and respond by launching nuclear weapons.”
• A New Nuclear Arms Race Looms: From offices in America’s State Department and Russia’s Ministry of Defence, officials take turns “pinging” each other every couple of hours to check the line is working. Then, almost always, silence. It is the dying heartbeat of global nuclear arms control. Until March the direct link between the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centres (NRRCs) of the world’s two biggest nuclear powers was alive with messages informing each other about the movement of missiles and bombers. Under New Start, which came into force in 2011 and which includes caps on long-range nuclear weapons, there were 2,000-odd such notifications in 2022. No longer. The half-yearly updates on warhead numbers have stopped, too. And there have been no on-site inspections since March 2020.

Member Organization Announcements and Updates

CRDF Global

• CRDF Global is hosting the 9th Annual Breaking Barriers event taking place virtually through Zoom on Wednesday, September 26, 11:30–1:30 pm EST. CRDF Global’s annual Breaking Barriers conference, hosted by the Women in Science and Security Working Group (WiSS), is an event that raises awareness of the work that still needs to be done to empower women in the fields of science and security, as well as provide a space in which women’s leadership and successes are celebrated. Breaking Barriers 2023 will offer a variety of speakers, panels, and networking rooms to consider the ever-important topic of “Who Gets a Seat at the Table? Developing Diverse Spaces in Science and Security.” Register here.
• CRDF Global invites nuclear security stakeholders to attend this year’s Robin Copeland Memorial Fellowship Capstone Presentation on September 6th from 10:00-11:00 am EST. This virtual event strives to unravel the intricate relationship between nuclear security culture and the resilient healthcare system we urgently need. This webinar aims to foster a discussion beyond grand narratives, allowing the participants to dive into the specifics. CRDF’s fellows will dissect the implications, the validated practices, and the tangible opportunities that arise when nuclear security intertwines with healthcare. Contact Eleanor White for more information.

The Critical Mass

• The Critical Mass LLC welcomes two new team members: Lucienne Dragoo, Junior Project Coordinator, and Neil Singh, Research and Analysis Intern.

Nuclear Transport Solutions

• NTS, in partnership with the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), facilitated two technical exchange visits for UK nuclear security practitioners to the USA to further develop trans-Atlantic collaboration and information sharing. The first visit, during the week commencing August 7, 2023, involved experts from NTS, Sellafield, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, who visited numerous US nuclear organizations for discussions on capabilities, techniques and lessons learned in insider threat mitigation. The second visit, taking place in Albuquerque the following week, focused on technologies and challenges in countering the threat from unmanned aerial systems around nuclear facilities and material transports, and involved UK experts from NTS, Sellafield, NNL and UK government. NTS continues to work with NNSA and other US partners to deliver further trans-Atlantic professional exchanges on current and emerging nuclear security issues.
• NTS experts supported King’s College London in delivering a ‘High-level Workshop on the Risks associated with Floating Nuclear Power Plants for Indonesia’, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The workshop brought together a range of key stakeholders from government, nuclear organizations, regulatory bodies, and maritime security agencies to discuss the potential challenges associated with floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) deployments within Indonesia and the South China Sea. NTS’ George Burnett highlighted some of the challenges associated with FNPP deployment from nuclear security and maritime law perspectives, and facilitated exercises to illustrate some of the concepts discussed.

Odesa Center for Nonproliferation

• Ali Alkis was featured in an interview by Energy Intelligence for the Turkish nuclear power policy report.Read more here.

Union of Concerned Scientists

• Edwin Lyman published a statement titled “NRC’s Risky Rule Change Ignores History. More Nuclear Emergency Planning Needed, Not Less” on August 14, 2023. The statement discusses the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of a rule that will allow for the licensing of new nuclear reactors without requiring those reactors to have offsite emergency plans in place. Read more here.

Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

• On July 24, 2023, Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova published “NPT Review Process: An Explainer,” the fourth brief in the VCDNP’s “Governing the Atom” series that explains the NPT review process, PrepComs, and RevCons. Read more here.
• VCDNP Research Associate Louis Reitmann, Sneha Nair, Ian Fleming Zhou, Monalisa Hazarika, and Almuntaser Bluwi analyze how different stakeholder groups, such as indigenous peoples, non-Western voices, women, and queer people, have systemically been denied access to debate and decision-making on nuclear weapons issues in “Beyond the Echo Chamber: Creating a More Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive Nuclear Weapons Policy Field.” Read more here.
• On August 1, 2023, the VCDNP and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the International Organizations in Vienna hosted an NPT side event during the 2023 NPT Preparatory Committee meeting to discuss feminist foreign policy within the NPT and broadly. Read more here.
• The VCDNP and the Permanent Missions of the United States and Switzerland to the International Organizations in Vienna held a side event on the margins of the 2023 NPT Preparatory Committee meeting on August 18, 2023. Ambassador Laura Holgate, Ambassador Benno Laggner, Anna Hajduk Bradford, and Laura Rockwood discussed the IAEA Director General’s Seven Indispensable Pillars for Nuclear Safety and Security during an armed conflict. Read more here.

Individual Member Updates

• Bahram Ghiassee shared the latest UK National Risk Register (NRR), the public version of the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), which was published on August 3, 2023. Read more here.
• Nicholas Moulios published an article titled “Could Establishing Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Systems for Nuclear Security in the EU Improve Existential Risk Resilience?” in European Leadership Network. Read more here.
• Trevor Findlay gave a presentation in Singapore on August 3, 2023, to the Nuclear Energy Experts Working Group (NEEG) of the Council on Security and Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) in its session on the IAEA, ASEANTOM and National Regulators. His presentation critiqued the 2022 IAEA Technical Report on Lessons Learned in Regulating Small Modular Reactors and assessed the safety, security and safeguards implications of SMR technology.

Opportunities

• The IAEA is now accepting applications for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme that aims to help increase the number of women in the nuclear field. Fellows will receive a scholarship for Master’s programs in nuclear related studies, and are provided with an opportunity to pursue internships facilitated by the IAEA for up to 12 months. Learn more.
• The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in partnership with the Council for a Livable World are now accepting applications for a Research Analyst position. The position will focus on nuclear weapons policy, international security, and defense spending. Learn more.
• Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc., is hiring a Senior NATO Nuclear Support Analyst for their Defense Threat Reduction Agency Division to support the U.S. Department of Defense. Learn more.  
• Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc., is hiring a Senior Nuclear Weapons Physical Security Analyst for their Defense Threat Reduction Agency Division to support the U.S. Department of Defense. Learn more. 
• VERTIC (the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre) is hiring one to two positions as Associate Legal Officer, Legal Officer, and/or Senior Legal Officer for their National Implementation Measures Programme. Depending on the experience and expertise of the applicant(s), we will offer the position at the level of Associate Legal Officer, Legal Officer or Senior Legal Officer. The position focuses on providing legislative assistance to states for national implementation of international agreements relevant to VERTIC, coordinating with other relevant organizations, and producing chapters and reports to be published by VERTIC. Learn more.
• CRDF Global is now accepting applications for a Research Security Project Associate in Kyiv, Ukraine. The project associate will provide administrative support and complete project-related tasks for a team implementing counter-WMD proliferation programming, specifically focused on supporting international nonproliferation norms and countering malign proliferator state influence and aggression. Learn more.
• The Arms Control Association has a position opening for a Research and Education Associate in Nuclear Weapons Policy in their Washington, D.C. office. Apply here.