IAEA breaks ground on International Nuclear Security Training Center

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced it had broken ground on a new facility to strengthen countries’ abilities to tackle nuclear terrorism Monday.

According to Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of IAEA, the new IAEA Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre would provide countries with training on tackling nuclear terrorism in areas like illegal trafficking of nuclear material and physical protection of facilities and major public events. The center will be located in Seibersdorf, Austria, and is scheduled to be operational by 2023.

“This Centre will help us in supporting countries to remain ahead of the curve in guarding against nuclear terrorism,” Grossi said. “It will reinforce the central role the Agency plays in this area of international importance.”

IAEA has been offering nuclear security training since the 1970s, but requests for the training have increased in recent years, due in part to the 2016 entry into force of the Amendment of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) – a significant international legal instrument in the fight against nuclear terrorism.

Additionally, the need to protect nuclear materials in member states has increased as more countries enter the nuclear power grid system or start construction of research reactors.

Officials said the Centre will provide more than 2,000 square meters of technical infrastructure and equipment where hands-on training will provide training that emulates security systems used at nuclear power plants, research reactors, and border crossings. The facility houses eight nuclear applications laboratories working in food and agriculture, human health, environmental monitoring, and assessment, as well as two safeguards analytical laboratories.

Trainees will practice procedures on access and alarm controls, inspect physical protection systems, better understand computer security risks and learn how to sweep an area for radioactive material during major public events. Training exercises at the center will also strengthen capabilities in radiological crime scene management and nuclear forensics.

Funding for the center and the multi-purpose building that houses it comes from IAEA states, including a pledge of €8.3 million from Saudi Arabia, €2 million from the United Kingdom, and €1 million from the United States.

“Thanks to the great generosity of our donor countries, this new facility will expand the topic areas covered by the IAEA’s Seibersdorf complex,” Grossi said.