Work to secure radioactive material under regulatory control, and to detect such material out of regulatory control is the focus of the International Conference on the Security of Radioactive Material: the Way Forward for Prevention and Detection, taking place on 3-7 December 2018 at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna.
At the conference, more than 700 participants from 100 Member States will analyze approaches to the security of radioactive material. They will discuss links between work to prevent radioactive material from falling out of regulatory control, and work to detect such material when out of regulatory control.
“In a robust national nuclear security regime, prevention and detection communities work together,” said Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, Director of the IAEA’s Division of Nuclear Security. “To foster such collaboration, this conference brings together experts from both fields for a crosscutting discussion.”
Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili, Permanent Representative of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna and co-president of the Conference, added: “Prevention and detection, with their respective challenges, have to co-exist and be connected to enhance their effectiveness and reinforce each other. The prevention and detection communities are already working together, but more can be done to achieve further progress in our capacity to prevent and detect a well-known but also ever-changing threat.”
The Conference programme includes discussions on difficulties encountered in work to secure radioactive material, as well as lessons learned and good practices.
“We need to pay attention to both the technological and the human sides of nuclear security,” said Ndèye Arame Boye Faye, Director General of the Senegalese Authority for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, and Conference co-president.
To help participants do so, conference sessions will feature discussions on how to strengthen nuclear security culture, mitigate insider threats, and detect radioactive sources out of regulatory control.
Participants, which include policy-makers and representatives of operators of facilities using radioactive sources, regulatory bodies, law enforcement and customs agencies, technical and scientific support organizations and other agencies involved in national security, will share good practices and insights on how to address ongoing developments and emerging threats.
More information is available here, and on IAEA social media. #IAEARadSecurity
