Development of Centers of Excellence Play Major Role in International Capacity Building

In April 2010 at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., there was a strong international commitment to strengthen nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear security through capacity building. As an initiative to preventing nuclear terrorism, several countries committed to establishing Centers of Excellence (COE), with a goal of international cooperation and collaboration and capacity-building assistance through education and training. One of the first of these activities to materialize is the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s (JAEA) Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security (ISCN). ISCN was established under JAEA in December 2010, and the Center celebrated its official opening on February 4, 2011. Making use of Japan’s knowledge and experience in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Agency / Sandia National Laboratories, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and other countries, ISCN now significantly contributes to strengthening nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear security in Asian countries. This paper will present the initiating and planning activities, the cooperation and collaboration efforts, and the identification of the capacity-building techniques that were used for the highly successful and rapid establishment of ISCN as an internationally recognized COE. The initiating and planning efforts, with the support of the Japanese government, provided a solid foundation for the development of future efforts. Significant challenges were identified and addressed. The collaboration efforts with the experience base at Sandia National Laboratories and the cooperation with the IAEA and other organizations provided valuable resources to support the development of ISCN’s capabilities.