 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
NTI in Action: World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS)
WINS is Launched in Vienna
NTI launches a first-of-its-kind organization to strengthen the physical protection and security of nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities worldwide. September 29, 2008 Read the Release
Vulnerable nuclear material anywhere is a threat to everyone, everywhere. Like most global problems, the defense against nuclear terrorism is dependent upon cooperative and collective global action. Despite new initiatives developed since 9/11, there is a need for additional international efforts to strengthen nuclear material security worldwide. A key element of these efforts must be focused on the facility operators with the first line responsibility for the security of their materials.
The World Institute for Nuclear Security will be a new international organization, developed by a unique partnership of NTI, the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) and the US Department of Energy, with the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to help strengthen security for nuclear materials around the world.
|
WINS will bring together practitioners — the professionals responsible for on-the-ground security practices – to collect the world's best practices in nuclear materials security and to share that information with facilities that are responsible for protecting the world's most dangerous nuclear materials. The people involved in WINS will be on the front lines, and they are in the best position to know where the vulnerabilities are, how to improve security for nuclear materials and to see that security improvements are implemented quickly and effectively.
NTI began developing the conceptual framework for WINS in 2005 and the concept now has broad international support from nuclear security experts, the nuclear industry, government officials and international organizations. The WINS concept has been developed in close coordination with the IAEA, and will maintain a central objective of complementing and supplementing the activities of the IAEA's Nuclear Security Program.
WINS takes its inspiration from a nuclear power industry organization formed to share information to improve nuclear safety after the Chernobyl nuclear accident — but WINS' focus is security. Security improvements are needed — more than 30 countries have significant quantities of nuclear weapons materials.
The 9/11 Commission reported that a "trained nuclear engineer with an amount of highly enriched uranium or plutonium about the size of a grapefruit or an orange, together with commercially available material, could fashion a nuclear device..."
WINS initial focus will be on security for the most dangerous materials — plutonium, mixed oxide fuel and highly enriched uranium.
Read "Promoting Best Practices in Nuclear Materials Security"
Read frequently asked questions about WINS
 |
Will Tobey, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration of the US Department of Energy, listens to comments from participants in a two-day meeting hosted by NTI to discuss organizational and governance issues for WINS, September 2007. Clockwise from bottom left: Richard Hoskins, Paul Ebel, Joan Rohlfing, Corey Hinderstein, Will Tobey, Joyce Connery, Jim Tape, Pascal Daures, and Marco Marzo. Not in the picture: Ed Johnson. |
In November 2006, NTI organized and co-sponsored, with INMM, an international "Experts Group" meeting to explore the WINS concept. Twenty-five participants attended from 17 different countries and the IAEA, including representatives of government regulatory bodies, ministries, and private industry. At the conclusion of the meeting, there was general consensus on the need for and value of WINS and the importance of continuing to advance the concept with support from NTI, INMM, and other international partners.
Putting the Concept to the Test: the WINS Pilot Project in Norway
Part of the WINS concept development process has been to conduct "pilot projects" to demonstrate the value of WINS-type activities to nuclear material managers and facility operators.
In October 2007, the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Norway hosted a meeting aimed at fostering an exchange of information on best practices in nuclear security and establishing a forum for operators of research reactors, in particular those managing highly enriched uranium. The workshop conclusions and the responses of the twenty participants indicated that there was a need for this kind of dialogue, and having it regularized and expanded would be a contribution to the field of nuclear material security.
An organizational and governance guidance document describing the vision, financing requirements, and other logistical questions for the establishment of WINS was drafted by a small international group at a meeting in September 2007 and circulated to participants in the 2006 Baden, Austria meeting and the INMM WINS Steering Committee for comments. The document is designed to be the basis for discussion with potential WINS supporters and participants, outlining the elements of an independent business entity, governed by a board of directors, and preferably located in Vienna, Austria. Read more 
