Corporate Governance Arrangements for Nuclear Security: Analysis of Annual Reports from Regulators and Operators

The World Institute for Nuclear Security’s (WINS) March 2014 publication of the report, “Corporate Governance Arrangements for Nuclear Security: Analysis of Annual Reports from Companies and Regulators,” presented, for the first time, a consolidated list of annual reports from the largest nuclear companies and their regulators in each country that planned to participate in the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) In the Netherlands. The purpose of this report was to obtain an overview of current corporate governance arrangements for nuclear security, enable a comparison between governance arrangements for safety and security, and obtain best practice examples of corporate governance reporting of security issues ahead of the 2014 Summit. At the 2014 Summit, 35 States pledged to implement “the intent” of IAEA nuclear security recommendations, accept periodic peer reviews, ensure that nuclear security managers and staff are “demonstrably competent,” and take other steps to ensure “continuous improvement” in nuclear security. A range of voluntary measures that States could consider in order to show they have established effective security of their nuclear materials and facilities were identified. In light of this achievement, and ahead of the final Security Summit in March 2016, WINS is conducting a systematic review of all annual reports from regulators and operators, using a specific set of criteria based on the voluntary measures agreed to by States, with the overall aim to highlight evidence that States are indeed taking measures to showcase their nuclear security efforts. This paper will reflect what has changed since the last Summit in 2014 (in which areas progress has been made), identify areas of concern, good practices in reporting around the globe, and make recommendations for the future.