The Role of George Kuzmycz Training Center in the Improvement of Reliability of Physical Protection of Ukraine’s Nuclear Facilities

The Training Center for Physical Protection, Control and Accounting of Nuclear Material was established on October 8, 1998. The Training Center is named in honor of George Kuzmycz (GKTC), the US Department of Energy (DOE) employee who led the US MPC&A program in Ukraine from 1994 through 1997. After opening, the GKTC began systematic work on training of Ukrainian specialists in the field of physical protection. US experts conducted sixteen training courses on physical protection in GKTC. About 450 students from eight nuclear facilities in Ukraine, Ukrainian regulatory and control authorities, Ministry of Interiors forces (MVD) and Security Service (SBU) participated in these courses. Significant amount of training and presentation materials have been accumulated. In December 2003, an assessment of training of Ukrainian specialists in the field of MPC&A was held. At this meeting, it was decided that GKTC would provide the advanced training for high-level and midlevel managers of nuclear facilities, and the training of instructors, who would then train lower and medium level employees at their facilities. The training and advanced training of physical protection employees in GKTC, in turn, helped to improve the physical protection of nuclear facilities in Ukraine.