Nuclear Security News and Member Updates Roundup, April 2024

This resource was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.

Dear Friends,

Our April newsletter presents the alarming sequence of reports of drone strikes at Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), including one targeted at a nuclear reactor building. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Grossi warned the IAEA’s Board of Governors could herald a dangerous new phase of the war and also addressed the UN Security Council on the dangers at the site. I hope you’ll read the whole newsletter, which also includes a wealth of member updates. We look forward to a robust membership attendance in a few weeks’ time at the IAEA’s International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) 2024, with many interesting presentations and side events.  

Warm wishes,

Christina

Director, International Nuclear Security Forum

Join the conversation on Twitter: @INS_Forum

Updates

• The INSF will be attending this year’s International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) 2024 in Vienna, Austria from May 20 – 24.
  • On Thursday, May 23 from 17:45 – 18:45, the INSF is hosting a side event titled “The Future of Civil Society in Advancing Nuclear Security Culture.” The event will convene a panel of civil society experts in nuclear security representing different parts of the world. The panel will reflect on the 2023 edition of the Catalogue of Civil Society Activities Strengthening Nuclear Security compiled by the INSF, discuss the important roles civil society has played in supporting the development of nuclear security culture to date, and assess opportunities and challenges for civil society to advance and strengthen nuclear security culture amid a potential expansion of nuclear energy solutions, new technologies, and emerging threats. The side event is located in Board Room A, M Building, Second Floor.
• FUNDING APPEAL: If you appreciate this newsletter, please consider a donation to ensure sustainability into the future. Donate and specify where indicated that your gift is intended to support the INSF. Institutional funding for civil society’s nuclear security work is increasingly hard to come by, as many readers already know, and the International Nuclear Security Forum appreciates your support!

Nuclear Security News

Impact: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• Update 220 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine: “Drone strikes hit the site of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) [on April 7], in a serious incident that endangered nuclear safety and security, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. For the first time since November 2022, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was directly targeted in military action that also represents a clear violation of the five basic principles for protecting the facility established by Director General Grossi at the United Nations Security Council in May last year. ‘This is a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must cease immediately,’ Director General Grossi said. At this point, there are no indications of damage to critical nuclear safety or security systems at the site. … After receiving information from the ZNPP about the drone attacks, the IAEA experts stationed at the site went to three affected locations. They were able to confirm the physical impact of the drone detonations, including at one of the site’s six reactor buildings where surveillance and communication equipment appeared to have been targeted. While they were at the roof of the reactor, unit 6, Russian troops engaged what appeared to be an approaching drone. This was followed by an explosion near the reactor building.”
• Update 221 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine: “The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed about a further drone attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) [on April 9], in the latest indication of a major worsening of the nuclear safety and security situation at the site, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. The IAEA team of experts stationed at the plant – who verified the impact of several such attacks on [April 7] – reported hearing bursts of rifle fire followed by a loud explosion at 11:05am local time [April 9], the same time that the ZNPP later said an incoming drone had detonated on the roof of the facility’s training center…The training center is located just outside the site perimeter, around half a kilometer from reactor unit 1, and the incident did not pose any threat to nuclear safety and security at the ZNPP, whose six reactors have all been shut down for the past 20 months. However, there are ZNPP staff routinely present in the training center. The IAEA team requested immediate access to the building to assess the possible impact but was informed that the military security situation did not allow it. The team will continue to seek such access, as they did and received on [April 7]…In addition to the incidents on [April 7] and [April 9] – which were backed up by the observations of the IAEA team – the Agency experts were also informed by the ZNPP about other similar events over the past few days. On [April 5], the ZNPP said there had been a drone strike near the site’s oxygen and nitrogen production facility. On [April 7], the team heard explosions, in addition to those already reported, and were informed of two other alleged drone attacks outside the site perimeter, at the nearby port and at the training center. [On April 8], the ZNPP said a drone had been shot down above the turbine hall building of reactor unit 6, without causing an explosion. In all cases, the IAEA team requested to visit these locations, but were denied access due to security reasons.”
• IAEA Chief Says Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Attacks Risk Dangerous Shift in Ukraine War: “Drone attacks on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine must stop as they could pose ‘a new and gravely dangerous’ stage in the war, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief told his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors on [April 11]. Drones attacked Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, on [April 7], hitting a reactor building in the worst such incident since November 2022, though nuclear safety was not compromised, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said. Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused one another of targeting the plant since Russia seized it weeks after it invaded Ukraine. Both countries requested an emergency meeting of the IAEA’s Board soon after [the April 7] attack. ‘The most recent attacks…have shifted us into an acutely consequential juncture in this war,’ IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the Board gathering. He called on the Board to ‘unanimously to support the role of the IAEA in monitoring’ principles aimed at preventing an accident at the plant, including that it not be attacked.”
• Putin Told IAEA Russia Plans to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant: “Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the United Nations atomic agency that the Kremlin plans to restart Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, currently under Russian occupation, further flaring the risks of an incident at Europe’s biggest nuclear station. [I]n recent months, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna received technical reports, written by a small team of inspectors it has posted to the plant, suggesting that Russia has been looking to bring Zaporizhzhia back online this year. Russia’s goal, said European diplomats familiar with those assessments, appears to be to bring at least one reactor back into operation. One of the diplomats said Russia may do this possibly in time for the 40th anniversary of the plant’s December 1984 connection to the Soviet Union’s electrical grid.”
• IAEA Chief Welcomes Cold Shutdown of All Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Reactor Units: “Safety at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine remains precarious but the shift to a cold shutdown of all six reactor units, completed on [April 13], is positive, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said in a statement. Drones attacked Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, on [April 7], hitting a reactor building in the worst such incident since November 2022, though nuclear safety was not compromised, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that with the end of the winter heating season in nearby Enerhodar, where most plant staff live, unit 4 had been moved from hot shutdown on [April 13], bringing ‘all six reactor units’ to cold shutdown for the first time since late 2022. ‘I welcome this development which has been recommended by the Agency for some time, as it enhances the overall safety of the facility,’ Grossi’s statement said. Cold shutdown allows for an ‘additional response margin of several days before the cooling of the nuclear fuel in the reactor might be challenged,’ he added. The reactor would also need less cooling water than in hot shutdown, he said, an issue that grew more challenging following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June. However, Grossi said the situation at the nuclear plant remained ‘extremely fragile,’ noting a team of IAEA experts had heard 16 rounds of outgoing artillery fire in less than half an hour on [April 13], and several drone strikes had targeted the facility over the past week.”
• Update 224 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine: “The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed about a further attempted drone attack [on April 18] on the training centre of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), causing no damage or casualties, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. It would be the third reported attack targeting the training facility recently, following two such incidents last week. The ZNPP told the IAEA team stationed at the site that today’s drone had been “neutralized”, without giving further details. The IAEA team heard an explosion at the same local time, 10:35am, as when ZNPP subsequently reported the attempted drone attack took place. The team was denied access to the training centre just outside the ZNPP site perimeter to assess the incident, with the plant citing potential security risks. It comes less than two weeks after a series of drone attacks significantly deepened concerns about the already precarious nuclear safety and security situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), located on the frontline of the conflict.
• IAEA’s Grossi Explains Why Blame Is Not Being Attributed for Zaporizhzhia Attacks: “Following [an] address to the United Nations Security Council on [April 15], Grossi was asked at a press conference why he did not say who he thought was responsible for the [drone attack] incidents. He said: ‘You raise a very important point and it’s a point that everybody is talking about, this issue of attribution and pointing a finger and saying “it’s this country or that country”. We are not commentators. We are not political speculators or analysts, we are an international agency of inspectors. And in order to say something like that, we must have proof, indisputable evidence, that an attack, or remnants of ammunition or any other weapon, is coming from a certain place. And in this case it is simply impossible.’”

Weapons, Materials, and Facilities

• IAEA Confirms Nuclear Security Improvements at Japanese Plant: “An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts has completed a nuclear security mission at the plant in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture, which was carried out at the request of Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). The nine-day mission – conducted from 25 March to 2 April – aimed to assess the enhancement of the physical protection measures at the plant and to provide further advice as necessary to the facility’s operator. The team observed the facility management’s commitment to improving nuclear security and identified continuous improvements in several areas of the plant’s physical protection system since 2018, when the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service Follow-up Mission in Japan, including a site visit at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. It noted most of the improvements have been completed, and some requiring significant resources and time to complete are either under implementation or planned to be implemented. The team provided Tepco recommendations and suggestions for further improvements.”
• Non-Proliferation Experts Urge US to Not Support Nuclear Fuel Project: “Nuclear proliferation experts who served under four U.S. presidents told President Joe Biden and his administration on [April 4] that a pilot project to recycle spent nuclear fuel would violate U.S. nuclear security policy. SHINE Technologies and Orano signed a memorandum of understanding in February to develop a U.S. plant to recycle, or reprocess, nuclear waste. It would have a capacity of 100 tons a year beginning in the early 2030s. The project would violate a policy signed by Biden in March 2023 that says civil nuclear research and development should focus on approaches that ‘avoid producing and accumulating weapons-usable nuclear material,’ the experts said in a letter, opens new tab to the president. ‘If such a facility were constructed in the United States, it would legitimize the building of reprocessing plants in other countries, thereby increasing risks of proliferation and nuclear terrorism,’ they said.”

Threats

• Police Arrest Anti-Nuclear Weapons Protesters Near KC National Security Campus: “Law enforcement on [April 15] arrested at least 10 people outside the Kansas City National Security Campus during a protest against nuclear weapons and a proposed expansion of the facility. As workers arrived for their shifts, about 50 demonstrators stood along Botts Road in south Kansas City near the entrance to the campus, which includes a National Nuclear Security Administration plant that is operated by Honeywell and manufactures many non-nuclear parts for the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Organizers estimated about half of the demonstrators were from the area. Holding signs such as ‘No New Nukes’ and yelling anti-nuclear weapon slogans, the protesters tried their best to catch the attention of arriving workers. Ann Suellentrop, a local activist who sits on the national board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, sharply criticized U.S. efforts to build new nuclear bombs…Kansas City police officers arrested three protesters who ventured onto a construction site across the street. Another seven were arrested after they went on to campus land. One person wrapped ‘Crime Scene’ tape across a National Security Campus entrance sign. At least some of the individuals arrested were loaded into a Kansas City police van.”

Security Culture

• Sellafield’s Head of Information Security to Step Down: “A former Royal Air Force officer who has led Sellafield’s information security for more than a decade is to leave the vast nuclear waste site in north-west England, it can be revealed. Richard Meal, who is chief information security officer at the Cumbrian site, is to leave later this year. Meal will be the second senior leader to depart the organization this year, after the top director responsible for safety and security – Mark Neate – announced in January that he planned to leave. His imminent departure follows several safety and cybersecurity failings, as well as claims of a ‘toxic’ working culture, that were revealed in Nuclear Leaks, a year-long Guardian investigation into Sellafield, late last year. Sellafield said no staff departures were linked to the revelations. Sellafield, which has more than 11,000 staff, was placed into a form of ‘special measures’ in 2022 for consistent failings on cybersecurity, according to sources at the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the security services. Sellafield said it did not have evidence of a successful cyber-attack after the Guardian revealed that groups linked to Russia and China had penetrated its networks.”
• Sexual Harassment Allegations Made Against Top Biden Nuclear Official: “When the Department of Energy announced last week that the No. 2 official of its nuclear security agency, Frank Rose, was leaving, his boss issued an internal memo calling him an ‘empathetic, candid, and action-oriented leader who always thought of the whole team.’ Left unsaid were the complaints about Rose’s behavior that had led to an internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, according to eight current and former government officials familiar with the matter, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters. The investigation into Rose, the principal deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, was launched earlier this year by DOE’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, according to two of the officials, one a current and the other a former NNSA employee. POLITICO also obtained an email from one of the investigators from the office, in which that person asked a former NNSA employee for an interview. The March email, which did not mention Rose by name, said the office ‘has been tasked with conducting an independent fact-finding review regarding allegations of harassment or hostile work environment at the NNSA.’ According to three current and former NNSA officials, Rose made some women in the office feel uncomfortable. At least one employee warned female colleagues ‘to be cautious’ about potential harassment when working with Rose’s office.”

Material Minimization

• U.S. and Japan Remove All Highly Enriched Uranium from Additional Research Reactor — Two Years Ahead of Schedule: “President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida welcomed news of the successful removal of all remaining highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)’s Japan Materials Testing Reactor Critical Assembly (JMTRC). The announcement also highlighted their continued commitment to minimize the use of HEU in civilian applications and reported progress since President Biden’s state visit to Japan in May 2022. In the two years since President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida announced the removal of HEU from three Japanese sites, the two countries also have removed all HEU from the Kyoto University Critical Assembly and committed to convert the Kindai University Teaching and Research Reactor, Japan’s last remaining HEU-fueled research reactor, to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and remove its remaining HEU to the United States… ‘This most recent removal highlights the shared commitment of the United States and Japan’s to minimize highly enriched uranium and the close partnership between our countries,’ said Corey Hinderstein, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. ‘The Defense Threat Reduction Agency helped our teams achieve this milestone years earlier than would have otherwise been possible.’”

Member Organization Announcements and Updates

The Stimson Center

• The IAEA has accepted co-authors Christina McAllister and Annie Trentham’s paper “RadSecLexis – An Opensource Online Database and Tool for Radiological Source Security Frameworks,” for presentation at ICONS24. Christina McAllister will present the paper on Thursday May 23 from 1600 – 1730 in M3. The paper and presentation cover the development and beta implementation of the Radiological Source Security Legal Index (RadSecLexis), as well as recent and future steps to ensuring the beta tool’s completion. Explore the beta tool.

International Institute for Strategic Studies

• Nick Childs and Timothy Wright published a Military Balance Blog post titled “UK’s Pledge to Raise Its Nuclear-Deterrent Game Comes with Wider Implications” on April 2, 2024. Read the blog post.
• William Alberque published a commentary piece titled “As NATO Turns 75, What’s Next for The Alliance?” on April 4, 2024. Read the commentary.
• William Alberque hosted three podcast episodes in the month of April for the Arms Control Poseur podcast: Artificial Intelligence and Arms Control with Simon Cleobury, on Gendered Perspectives in Arms Control, Non-Proliferation and Disarmament with Federica Dall’Arche, and on Artificial Intelligence Controls with Simona Soare. Listen to the podcasts.
• The Missile Dialogue Team held a workshop in Tokyo. Read more.

James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

• The Nonproliferation Review and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) are pleased to announce that an article examining the George W. Bush administration’s policies toward the nuclear programs of Iran and South Korea, “A Tale of Two Fuel Cycles: Defining Enrichment and Reprocessing in the Nonproliferation Regime” by Sidra Hamidi and Chantell Murphy, has won the Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Award’s grand prize. Read more.
• CNS wishes to share the remarkable accomplishment of a former student, MIIS alumna, and Vienna-based director of the CNS International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program, Ms. Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova. Gaukhar joined UN Secretary General Guterres, Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa, and CTBTO Executive Secretary Floyd to brief the UN Security Council on Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation. Gaukhar not only was in very august company but was the only representative from civil society invited to speak. Read her full statement.
• “Machiavelli in the Ivory Tower: A CNS videocast series” published their ninth and tenth episodes in March and April. Episode 9, “North Korea and the Bomb – A Conversation with Ankit Panda” and episode 10, “The Psychology of Nuclear Brinkmanship with Rose McDermott” are both available on the CNS website. Watch the series.
• The Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) at Sandia National Laboratories and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) strive to combat the spread of WMD by training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists and informing cooperative engagements and policies that strengthen international security. CMC and CNS are pleased to announce an essay competition aimed at fostering and leveraging technical and regional expertise to promote new thinking and inform technical and diplomatic solutions to regional problems. Read for more details.
• From March 4-8, 2024, the U.S.-Black Sea Nonproliferation Professionals Exchange group, comprised of 20 nonproliferation mid-senior career experts from Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United States convened for its fourth meeting – this time at CNS headquarters. The U.S.-Black Sea Exchange was spearheaded in 2021 by CNS with support from the International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau of the U.S. Department of State. Prior to Monterey, the group has convened in Vienna, the United States, and the Republic of Georgia. The group assembles to share national and regional perspectives on hybrid threats that their individual countries and the region face and to develop needed actions related to nonproliferation, regional and international security. Read the report.
• CNS Eurasia Nonproliferation Program Director Dr. Hanna Notte joined the BBC’s Ukrainecast to discuss the implications of the Moscow terrorist attack, alongside Angela Stent. Listen to the interview.
• MIIS professor and chair of the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies MA program Jeff Knopf has just published a new book chapter. Prof. Knopf’s essay, “Psychological and Societal Sources of Nuclear Peace,” appears in Global Governance and International Cooperation: Managing Global Catastrophic Risks in the 21st Century, edited by Richard Falk and Augusto Lopez-Claros (Routledge, 2024). Read more.
• On April 9, 2024, the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) hosted a webinar entitled “The Changing Dynamics of Nuclear Crises in South Asia: What Lies Ahead.” Organized and moderated by CNS Graduate Research Assistant, Syed Ali Zia Jaffery, the webinar featured Dr. Rabia Akhtar, Ruhee Neog, Dr. Christopher, and Dr. Jeffrey Knopf. CNS Director Dr. William Potter also shared his remarks on nuclear crises. The discussion centered on understanding the changing crisis behaviors of India and Pakistan, challenges to strategic stability, the evolution of crisis management, and the state of nuclear learning both in South Asia and elsewhere. Watch the recording.
• On April 5 – 6, 2024, high school students and teachers from all over the United States and Japan gathered in Monterey, California, for the Spring Critical Issues Forum (CIF) Conference. This annual event is organized by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) as part of the Center’s commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament education. The CIF project focuses on engaging, educating, and empowering high school students, who will become the leaders of tomorrow, contributing toward building a peaceful, secure, and a nuclear weapons-free world. Read the report.

Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project, University of Texas

• The Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project (NPPP) organized a letter to President Biden from former officials of five previous presidential administrations, and other nonproliferation experts, urging him to block a proposed commercial reprocessing facility that would extract 100 bombs’ worth of plutonium annually. Read the press release.

Nuclear Threat Initiative

• The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is hosting “A Conversation with Ambassador Laura Holgate on the Future of Nuclear Security.” Read more.
• On Thursday, May 23 from 12:45-1:45 at Conference Room M5, M Building, Ground floor, NTI is hosting at side event at the IAEA International Conference on Nuclear Security, titled “Nuclear Security in Times of Crisis.”
• NTI published an article, titled “Time to Change Course on Nuclear Security”, outlining recommendations for ICONS. Read the article.

Odesa Center for Nonproliferation

• Ali Alkis presented “Nuclear Security and Artificial Intelligence: Balancing Pros and Cons in Safeguarding Critical Assets” on March 29 during the Student/Young Pugwash-UK Webinar titled “AI and Nuclear Matters.” The presentation covered the potential for nuclear security but warned of potential misuse. Read more.
• Ali Alkis gave a speech about the next generation and the future of nuclear security on April 3 during the Next Generation and the Future of Nuclear Security event organized by the VCDNP. Alkis called for more recognition of regional differences in nuclear security and increased opportunities for young professionals to enter the field. Watch the recording.
• Ali Alkis published a new article titled “Russia Plans to Restart Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Embattled Nuclear Power Plant. That Won’t Make the Plant Safer” at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He suggests the Russian plan to restart the plant amounts to playing Russian roulette—with six nuclear reactors. Read the article.

Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

• The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) Programme Director Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova addressed the UN Security Council on March 18, 2024, calling on the five nuclear-weapon States and permanent members of the Council to live up to their responsibility to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons use. Read more.
• The VCDNP is proud to announce that it has been chosen as the recipient of funding to establish the Japan Chair for a world without nuclear weapons in Europe. On February 27, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa named the VCDNP as one of only three non-governmental organizations globally to receive an endowment of over 6.8 million euros from Japan to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the achievement of a world without nuclear weapons. Read more.
• On April 3, 2024, the VCDNP hosted a hybrid panel discussion on the next generation and the future of nuclear security. The speakers provided a range of perspectives on the importance of the next generation for the future of nuclear security, and the need for nuclear security organizations and practitioners to facilitate the successful integration of young professionals into the nuclear security workforce. Moderated by VCDNP Senior Fellow Dr. Sarah Case Lackner, the discussion was opened by VCDNP Executive Director Elena K. Sokova and United States Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie D. Jenkins. Read a summary.
• On March 21, 2024, the VCDNP and the European Leadership Network (ELN) hosted a hybrid panel discussion on the report “AI and nuclear command, control and communications: P5 perspectives,” which explores the potential benefits and risks of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) systems. The speakers provided an overview of the report’s findings and discussed the varying perspectives in four nuclear-weapon states: the United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia. Watch the event.
• On March 26, 2024, the VCDNP hosted a webinar on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain titled “Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain: Technical, Legal, and Ethical Perspectives.” Rapid advances in AI are transforming battlefield tactics, leading to a wide range of efforts to ensure that AI is developed, deployed, and used in a safe and secure manner. This webinar sought to explore the use of AI for military purposes and potential avenues for its regulation through technical, legal, and ethical perspectives. Watch the event.
• VCDNP Research Associate Louis Reitmann contributed a research paper to a new volume on intersectional gender perspectives on nuclear weapons, published by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). In his paper “The Scientific Case for Diversity in Nuclear Weapons Policy-Making”, Mr. Reitmann analyses empirical findings from psychology and behavioral science that demonstrate diversity’s potential to create more effective nuclear weapons policy. Read the paper.

Individual Member Updates

• Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security (SGS) and the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE are hosting the North America launch of The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023 (WNISR2023). The WNISR is an authoritative and comprehensive annual assessment of the status and trends of the international nuclear industry. It provides an evidence-based overview of nuclear power plant operation, production, fleet age, and construction, newbuild programs in existing and potentially new nuclear countries, and of Small Modular Reactor (SMR) development. WNISR2023 includes contributions by leading interdisciplinary experts from seven countries. RSVP for the event.
• The IAEA has accepted INSF members Ken Brill’s (US) and John Bernhard’s (DK) paper “Shaping the Future: Building Needed Dynamism into the Nuclear Security Regime” for presentation at ICONS-2024. Ken Brill will present the paper in Board Room A on Friday, May 24, from 1045-1215 at one of the Conference’s program sessions on policy, law, and regulations for nuclear security.
• Trevor Findlay published an article, “Russia’s Dangerous Zaporizhzhia Gambit” in Australian Outlook on April 18. Read the article.
• Trevor Findlay recorded an audiogram for the Microsoft Corporation on the applicability of nuclear governance, including nuclear security, to the regulation of artificial intelligence to accompany his paper on the subject to be published on the Microsoft website in the coming weeks.
• Trevor Findlay participated in a Capstone Dialogue on “Countering WMD Threats in the Indo-Pacific” convened by the Atlantic Council and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security in Singapore from April 17 – 19 as a member of the arms control working group.
• Nse-Abasi Ayara shared the Nuclear-Aware Africa new project on curating opportunities in the nuclear space, called “Opportunities in Nuclear and Disarmament.” This new project is dedicated to sharing jobs, conferences, workshops, book launches, and related developments to the community to enhance professional development. View the website.
• Artem Lazarev from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shared that:
  • UNODC released the second quarterly newsletter of its CBRN Terrorism Prevention Programme. Read the newsletter.
  • On March 4-6, UNODC conducted an EU-funded country visit to Sao Tome and Principe to facilitate the ratification of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT). Read more.
  • On March 18-19, as part of its efforts to promote relevant international legal instruments under a project funded by Canada, UNODC conducted a country visit to Nepal, which is not yet party to ICSANT. Read more.
  • On March 22, UNODC contributed virtually to a webinar on “Strengthening Global Nuclear Security: Promoting Universalization of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and its Amendment (A/CPPNM)” organized by the African Center for Science and International Security. Watch the webinar.
  • On April 12, UNODC held the first event of an EU-funded webinar series, which focused on a prosecutorial perspective on ICSANT. Read more.
  • On April 16-18, UNODC contributed to the ASEAN regional forum (ARF) workshop “Steppe Lotus” on strengthening legal frameworks to combat chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism, which took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Read more.

Opportunities

• The Partnership for Global Security is seeking candidates for the Della Ratta Global Energy and Security Fellowship. This is a position that crosscuts a number of traditional disciplines. It is a unique opportunity for an early career candidate with an interest in addressing the intersection of new global realities and emerging technology and geopolitical issues. The Fellow will conduct policy research on issues at the intersection of nuclear energy and commerce, climate change, and global security. The fellow will contribute to the work of an internationally recognized non-governmental organization with an ambitious, forward-looking agenda. Read more.
• Parsons Corporation is seeking a Project Manager for their Global Nuclear Security Projects portfolio – a U.S. Government contract. The Project Manager will provide direction and management for small to medium-sized international nuclear security projects. The projects work with nuclear material security, including efforts to ensure the secure storage and transportation of nuclear warheads, weapons-usable nuclear material, and high-threat radiological material. Read more.
• CRDF Global is seeking a Senior Program Manager for the Nuclear Technologies profile under the supervision of the Director of Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation Programs. The Senior Program Manager will be responsible for managing CRDF Global activity on one or more significant programs, has supervisory experience as well as program or project management experience, and experience managing high-impact activities. Read more.
• The Partnership for Global Security (PGS) is seeking applicants for their Research Internship. The intern will primarily focus on researching nuclear security, nuclear energy, and transnational governance issues. Current research projects that interns will support include: exploring the nexus of climate change, nuclear power growth and global security; understanding the growth of nuclear energy in the Middle East and East Asia; tracking the evolution of nuclear security policies and governance structures; using existing voluntary frameworks as a model for nuclear security governance structures; and examining cybersecurity and other potential threats prompted by new technology developments. Read more.