Japan’s Effort on Promoting Nuclear Security Culture

Reflecting the recommendation on physical protection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEAI), nuclear security regulations in Japan were revised in March 2012 and new regulation requires the operators to establish a framework to promote nuclear security culture within their organization, including the involvement of top management. Since then, the operators have been struggling to meet the new requirement since the term nuclear security culture was new to them. This paper introduces the efforts by the operators to develop effective nuclear security culture program within their organizations. The paper illustrates the difference in safety and security culture and challenges for developing effective nuclear security culture program in Japan. Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security (ISCN) is Japan’s COE on nuclear security. ISCN started hosting a workshop for domestic audiences, with the cooperation of World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) in order to foster strong nuclear security culture in Japan. ISCN also recently started dispatching its experts to the facilities to have conversations with the staffs on how to promote nuclear security culture in their facilities. The paper introduces lessons learned by ISCN through those workshops and dispatching of experts and discuss operator’s perception of nuclear security threat, understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and challenges for further promoting nuclear security culture among relevant stakeholders.