Global nuclear industry leaders pledged this week to improve nuclear security practices, enhance security culture within the industry, and improve their defenses against cyberattacks to fulfill their role in the global nuclear security architecture. Industry leaders presented Wednesday a joint statement of their commitments to the national leaders participating in the Nuclear Security Summit this week. The Nuclear Industry Summit (NIS) is an official side event of the two-day meeting of leaders in Washington, D.C.
The 350 industry participants committed to ongoing measures to secure nuclear and radiological materials in industrial facilities; improvements to nuclear security practices through best practice exchanges and security personnel training programs; confidence-building on the effectiveness of security practices for the public and stakeholders; enhancement of security culture for industry management and personnel by raising awareness of nuclear security threats and offering incentives for proper accountability; cybersecurity improvements via non-sensitive best practice exchanges among industry members; and advancement of nuclear security activities beyond the summit process.
The NIS released working group reports addressing three key issues: securing the use, storage, and transport of radiological and strategic nuclear materials; managing the cyber threat; and the role of the nuclear industry in the world. The first working group called for the reduction of civilian uses of highly enriched uranium (HEU) by replacing it with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel in research and medical isotope production reactors, designing and developing new research reactors that use LEU, and using LEU targets for the production of medical isotopes. The second working group report said the threat of cyberattacks is increasing over time, calling for more robust defenses that move the nuclear industry from “a culture of compliance to a culture of excellence in cybersecurity.” The third working group pledged to improve governance and information exchanges within the nuclear industry to maintain the security of nuclear facilities and materials, promoting in the meantime public awareness of the peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
Kent Cole, president and CEO of NAC International and a member of the working group on the secure use of nuclear materials, referred during his remarks to a recent National Academy of Sciences committee that identified an extended timeline for HEU minimization in civilian research reactors worldwide. The timeline for global research reactor conversions is scheduled for completion around 2035, the report said, a delay from the previously projected 2018 completion date due in part to political differences with Russia, which does not currently consider those reactor conversions a national priority.
Asked by NS&D Monitor whether there is some level of collaboration on more reactor conversions between U.S. industry technical experts and their Russian counterparts, Cole said the “pulling back” of the political relationship has presented “a bit of a barrier” for technical partnerships. He expressed hope, however, that one of the outcomes of this week’s summit events would involve “dialogue on how to reinitiate that framework.” Although Russia has withdrawn from direct participation in this year’s summit, officials highlighted the presence of some Russian observers at events this week.
Cole said the nuclear industry “can’t move the Russian national program to change [its] priorities by itself,” and said that to drive Russia’s prioritization of reactor conversions, “individual companies and entities doing business with Russian organizations can certainly state their preference” and “factor those views into their buying decisions.”
Industry leaders also voiced their support for the nuclear security work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), offering their technical support to government-driven activities. Marvin Fertel, president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said that while the IAEA works directly with governments, “we participate in their technical forums” when asked. The partnership between industry and international organizations like the IAEA “can be expanded,” he said, noting that industry players generally share information on safety with each other, an area “we’ve been most effective.”
Daniel Poneman, president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., said the relationship between industry and the IAEA is “symbiotic” and “one in which we have discrete but connected roles and responsibilities.” The IAEA has “terrific convening power” but cannot execute on an operational level, he said. “It’s up to us in industry to actually execute all that good work.”
