University of Ibn Tofail-INMM Student Chapter Experience in conducting a Nuclear Security Insider Threat Exercise

Nuclear and radioactive materials, related activities and facilities are facing many types of threats committed by external and internal adversaries. The insider is the most dangerous adversary, because he has multiple advantages such as knowledge, access and authority to bypass security measures and he is more difficult to detect than an outsider. The International Atomic Energy Agency has issued its publication “Preventive and Protective Measures against Insider Threats” in 2008 that applies to any type of nuclear facility, notably nuclear power plants, research reactors and other nuclear fuel cycle facilities whether in operation, shut down or being decommissioned. Several trainings were conducted worldwide in the aim to make aware the nuclear community about the insider threat and measures to prevent and protect against this type of threat. We, at the University of Ibn Tofail-Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Student Chapter have benefited from trainings in the United States, Indonesia and Morocco in 2014 and 2015. In order to disseminate the knowledge acquired and share our experiences with other students and young professionals in Morocco, we organized in February 2016 a two day workshop at our university in the benefit of students, faculty members as well as operators. This Table Top Exercise (TTX) was performed on the IAEA Hypothetical Facility Shapash. We appreciated the support of King’s College London in providing us with the maps of the facility as well as discussing at this event through a conference call. In this paper we will present our experience in conducting this TTX and presenting methods for preventing and mitigating threats from insiders at nuclear facilities.