Technical Training Workshop on International Safeguards: An Introduction to Safeguards for Emerging Nuclear States

In anticipation of the nuclear renaissance and the increasing safeguards burden that will accompany it, the United States is working with the international community to strengthen the international safeguards regime. Part of this work focuses on developing a cadre of safeguards professionals capable of implementing international safeguards in their countries. In support of this effort, the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) hosted a workshop from May 4-22, 2009, on the fundamental elements of international safeguards. Entitled “A Technical Training Workshop on International Safeguards,” the workshop introduced post-graduate students and entry-level experts from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to the fundamental issues and best practices associated with international safeguards and encouraged them to explore potential career paths in safeguards. Workshops like this strengthen the international safeguards regime by promoting the development of a “safeguards culture” among young nuclear professionals within nascent nuclear countries. While this concept of “safeguards culture” is sometimes hard to define and even harder to measure, this paper will demonstrate that the promotion of safeguards cultures through workshops, such as this one, are a concrete way to strengthen the nonproliferation regime.