Speakers
Description
Background
There are over 50 countires that have either nuclear power programs or research reactors which possess nuclear material and virtually all IAEA Member States possess and use other radioactive material, e.g. radioactive sources for medical, industrial and other non-nuclear applications. During the life-cycle of these materials, safe and secure transport is required. Transport of these materials takes place in the public domain outside of secured facilities, often involving international transfers, multiple national and international stakeholders, and multiple security interfaces that must function seamlessly for continuous and effective security. With tens of millions of shipments of nuclear and other radioactive materials taking place all over the world annually, security during transport is one of the most complex aspects of the physical protection of these materials.
Discussion
As an outcome of the Fourth Nuclear Security Summit of 2016, held in Washington D.C., the Governments of Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Spain, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States reaffirmed through INFCIRC/909 their will to further improve the overall security in the transport of nuclear and other radioactive materials. With this goal in mind, they expressed their commitment to further exchange national practices with other countries through the IAEA and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). They also committed to actively support the IAEA as the central organization for coordinating activities and developing guidance documents, and support the GICNT and the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction in developing and implementing its nuclear transport security activities, both of which address the commitments regarding nuclear transport security coming from the Nuclear Security Summit 2016.
In an effort to continue the momentum from the Nuclear Security Summit, the Government of Japan, in cooperation with the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (ISCN/JAEA), will host the International Symposium on Transport Security in November 2019. With over fifty countries invited to attend, the purpose of this event is to exchange and promote good practices in several topical area sessions related to the security of nuclear and other radioactive material in transport, such as Laws and Regulatory Framework, Physical Protection Systems, Response Actions, and Insider/Information Security. The Symposium intends to build support for international transport security and encourage IAEA Member States to actively work regionally and internationally with the IAEA’s transport security programme through the practical implementation and incorporation of IAEA Nuclear Security Series recommendations and guidance into their national frameworks for transport security. From these sessions, it is the host’s intent to detail a recommended path forward for future engagements in the security of nuclear and radioactive material in transport.
This paper will discuss the Symposium’s outcomes and highlight the forward momentum made by both signatories and non-signatories for the strengthening of all the critical elements of a State’s transport security regime, including physical protection systems, insider threats to the nuclear and radioactive material supply chains, planning and capabilities for law enforcement response to malicious transport security events, and employment of technology to address critical vulnerabilities to the transport of nuclear and other radioactive materials.
| State | Japan |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
