Nuclear and Aviation Security - what can we learn from each other?

The World Institute for Nuclear Security, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, has been engaged in a benchmarking research project comparing the evolution and future security challenges faced by the nuclear and aviation sectors, with the purpose of identifying transferable best practices between the sectors. On first inspection one might ask what these two sectors have in common in respect to their security challenges. However, both of these sectors are overseen by UN-affiliated international organisations (the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA, and the International Civil Aviation Organization - ICAO) comprising their Member States, both have national competent authorities that oversee security regulation, both are components of the critical national infrastructure and both industrial sectors are global in reach. The research programme has examined each of these levels to identify the respective approaches to international standards, guidance, audit and peer review; the respective approaches to security training and certification; the interaction between the international organisations and the industry associations to establish the degree to which security objectives are driven by an inclusive approach to policy formulation, and the current and future security challenges being faced by the two sectors. The report from the research programme will be published in July 2019 and the paper will highlight the key conclusions and policy recommendations.