Report on the Workshop for the Next Generation Safeguards Professional Network Hosted by SRNL

In 2007, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) established the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI) in an effort to revitalize the safeguards workforce necessary to sustain the international safeguards system as it evolves over the next 25 years. In support of the NGSI program, members from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) began to develop a network of young and new professionals in the safeguards arena in 2009. This network came to be known as the Next Generation Safeguards Professional Network (NGSPN). ORNL hosted the inaugural meeting of the NGSPN in October of 2009. The purpose of the meeting was to build connections between the next generation of experts who will guide the upcoming challenges to the domestic and international safeguards system. In September of 2010, the second NGSPN workshop was held in Aiken, SC at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). The goals of the second meeting were to bring together NGSPN members and broaden the scope of the network, discuss current capabilities of SRNL in an effort to foster collaboration, enhance the knowledge base of the participants, and discuss the future of the network. The workshop included 17 participants from across the DOE complex and other entities. The NGSPN workshop participants encompassed a wide variety of specialties and backgrounds. The group was comprised of individuals who attended the inaugural meeting and those who were attending their first NGSPN event. This paper describes the events of the NGSPN meeting, outcomes, and suggestions for moving forward with the network.