Year
2008
Abstract
There has been an extended program of United States Department of Energy/Nuclear Regulatory Commission support in Kazakhstan in developing a nuclear security infrastructure that includes training activities for nuclear security personnel of Kazakhstan regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and nuclear facilities. Many Kazakhstani nuclear facilities training courses for security personnel and for nuclear material control and accounting specialists have already been conducted in Kazakhstan. This training means that an understanding of the issue is being formed that visualizes a national program for preparing specialists and raising the overall level of nuclear physical security and safety in the country: in particular, the level of physical protection, material control and accounting, export control, nuclear forensics, and combating illicit trafficking. A concept to establish a material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) training center in the Republic of Kazakhstan was recently advanced because of the relatively large number of nuclear facilities in Kazakhstan and the correspondingly large number of personnel involved. In this paper we will present the background information from the recently conducted workshop “Training Needs Assessment in the Republic of Kazakhstan” and discuss arguments supporting the initiative to establish the National MPC&A Training Center in Kazakhstan. In addition, we will present arguments that such a training LA-UR-08-3481 2 center could cover all training needs, not only in the Republic of Kazakhstan, but also in neighboring Central Asian countries, in training their personnel and providing specialists for nuclear facilities.