Government Engagement - Training as a means of maintaining and enhancing the profile of safeguards.

Understanding of safeguards and nuclear related issues more generally is not well developed amongst government officials internationally. Safeguards professionals typically have experience and expertise in topics that are highly specific to their roles. Safeguards officials generally find it difficult to impart background information, or in many cases a general understanding, of safeguards or other nuclear related issues to other relevant government officials. This low level of understanding makes it difficult to get policy support for worthwhile initiatives or when trying to clarify the importance of issues within government. As part of overall efforts to improve communications on these issues within the Australian government, ASNO has been working both directly with relevant policy and operational agencies and through the Australian National University (ANU) to produce improved understanding amongst the broader government community. These efforts have taken a variety of forms. The most frequent are short, broad-brush presentations on the nuclear fuel cycle, the safeguards system and relevant topical issues to (mostly) small groups of officials. ASNO is also actively involved in the ANU's multi-disciplinary Masters of Nuclear Science program. While such efforts have relatively limited short-term return on investment for ASNO they should result, longer term, in a substantial increase in the cadre of officials with an understanding of nuclear issues within the community of relevant Government officials. This paper will describe ASNO's efforts and present some lessons learnt for consideration by other organisations to help improve discussions of nuclear issues internationally