Structural Bias in Global Nuclear Security

Since the earliest days of the Manhattan Project, inequitable access to careers and knowledge relating to nuclear issues has meant that talented and qualified candidates from marginalized communities have often received fewer opportunities to enter, stay, and succeed in the nuclear field. This exclusion of select groups has been especially acute in the smaller nuclear security niche, reflecting both broader global security trends and biased understandings of risk and threat. In recent years, research has shown the negative impacts of these exclusion policies and the need for broader perspectives and participation in nuclear security. This project explores how different facets of nuclear security and the nuclear field more broadly are vulnerable to structural biases that inform the field, and how public and private nuclear facilities around the world can work to mitigate these biases to create more accessible, innovative, and secure operating environments and make the world a safer place.