Nuclear Security Workshop in Oslo focuses on forensics, cybersecurity

Nuclear security experts from Scandinavia and the United States took part in a workshop hosted in Oslo last week that focused on leveraging international cooperation to enhance nuclear security and nuclear forensics.

Page Stoutland, vice president of scientific and technical affairs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), highlighted the growing threat of cyber attacks to nuclear facilities in a keynote address at the workshop.

A recent NTI report on evolving cyber threats to nuclear securities calls for fast action from governments, private industry, and international organizations to avoid the potential “catastrophic consequences” of a cyber attack to a nuclear facility.

The report identifies four key recommendations: institutionalization of cybersecurity for nuclear facilities, more aggressive cyber defenses that goes beyond firewalls and air gaps, less complex digital systems at nuclear facilities, and “transformative” research to better secure critical applications.

“Beyond the unthinkable potential human toll, a serious cybersecurity breach would profoundly shake global confidence in civilian nuclear power generation,” NTI Co-Chairman and CEO Sam Nunn said when the report was released. “Governments and industry simply must get ahead of this rapidly evolving threat.”

The workshop in Oslo was hosted by Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM), and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK), in association with the U.S. State Department.