Nuclear Renaissance and Security Culture (original) (raw)

The "nuclear renaissance" reportedly involves 65 countries, of which at least 45 have no experience of building and operating nuclear infrastructure (also known as "nuclear newcomers"). Economic, political, environmental, and other drivers vary for these countries, but only a few of the nuclear aspirants will be able to reach the desired status in the next 20-25 years. Assessment of the vulnerability of nuclear power infrastructure-both current and future-to attacks and other malicious acts reveals that the human factor, and particularly insider threats, poses a major risk. Nuclear security culture is designed to improve the performance of the human component and to make its interface with security technology and regulations more effective and smooth. As nuclear power programs expand worldwide-albeit at a much slower pace than originally expected-there is a need to develop a variety of more efficient tools for achieving sustainable nuclear security culture. These tools would be tailored to specific risks and to the prevailing national culture in individual countries, and above all in nuclear newcomers. The April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit affirmed the importance of this endeavor.