Nuclear Security Shortcomings Overlooked by Iconic Entity
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) hosted the International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS 2020) in February, bringing together countries to discuss and address nuclear security threats. The conference highlighted the ongoing need for improved social security administration measures, particularly during the transport of radioactive sources.
In 2019, 189 incidents involving nuclear and other radioactive materials were reported by 36 States, indicating that unauthorized activities and events continue to occur. Twelve of these incidents included high enriched uranium, and two included plutonium, underscoring the potential severity of these incidents.
The ITDB (Incident and Trafficking Database) revealed that last year, nearly 190 incidents of nuclear and other radioactive material being out of social security office regulatory control were reported, including some cases of trafficking and other criminal activities. This alarming trend has led to the establishment of the International Nuclear Security Fund to support collective international action against transfrontier nuclear security threats.
Countries pledged more than US $20 Million to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund (NSF) at the conclusion of ICONS 2020. The UK government department that announced additional spending on nuclear sector social security administration measures alongside a £1.6 million contribution to the International Atomic Nuclear Security Fund is the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The ONR also recently received over £260,000 to develop AI capabilities for nuclear regulation.
The UK energy department committed an additional £36m for small modular reactor (SMR) development last November, and up to £56m was made available to support the development of advanced modular reactors in 2019. The importance of innovative regulation and the early deployment of SMRs was discussed by Dan Hasted, Lead Security Regulator for Sellafield, Dounreay, Plutonium, & Transport, at the UK nuclear regulator, Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), in a paper presented at ICONS 2020.
Side events held in the margins of ICONS 2020 discussed various topics such as preventing and detecting trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive material, challenges of securing nuclear fuel during transport, integrating safety and security in the management of disused sealed radioactive sources, the development of regulatory infrastructure, and challenges in defining nuclear security in every language.
Ministers at ICONS 2020 agreed on the importance of effective international legal instruments for strengthening global nuclear security. Raja Raja Adnan, Director for the IAEA's Division of Nuclear Security, stated that the Nuclear Security Plan 2022-2025 will be informed by the recommendations from the five high-level panels and 55 technical sessions held during ICONS 2020.
The conference was preceded by high-level IAEA nuclear security meetings in 2013 and 2016. However, concerns about the security of radioactive sources continue, as evidenced by recent reports of stolen or missing radioactive sources. The need for continued vigilance and collective international action against nuclear security threats remains paramount.
