The World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) held its
Inaugural Workshop in Cumbria, UK during 5th - 8th May in collaboration with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Invitations were also extended to a number of international organisations including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Nuclear Transport Institute (WNTI).
The workshop focussed on best practices relating to security management – including:
corporate governance and assurance models for security,
performance versus compliance based regulation,
performance metrics and
opportunities and barriers to the publication of security oversight arrangements by regulators and those accountable for the security of material
The workshop consisted of senior personnel from a wide variety of backgrounds, responsible for national security policy, security regulation, inspection and verification, nuclear site licensee operations, nuclear site ownership, corporate governance research and observers from the international community. All workshop sessions were professionally facilitated and the workshop material will be used to help establish best practice guidelines and to prioritise WINS’ future programme of activities.
Dr Roger Howsley, WINS Executive Director said
“I am delighted that the inaugural workshop was so productive. It clearly demonstrated that security management issues and the identification of best practices can be discussed between professionals without needing to exchange sensitive nuclear data. The workshop brought together some outstanding people, many of whom had not met previously, but I have no doubt that with support from WINS these new professional contacts will continue for many years into the future. This is what WINS is all about – bringing experienced people together and encouraging them to identify and share best practices for the benefit of WINS Members in the nuclear security community.”
Michael Fink, from the NNSA, said
“The WINS workshop was an effectively organised and expertly facilitated event and we were pleased to have the opportunity to exchange information with fellow professionals about our nuclear security assurance programs and how to make security implementation more effective. All of the US team thought the meeting a great success and a solid first step and we look forward to further interactions with WINS.”Janet Wilson, Director for Security and Non proliferation for the NDA noted,
“The NDA appoints contractors to run its nuclear sites in the UK and it is essential that our contractors seek out and implement best practices, including for security. That is why we were pleased to co-host the WINS workshop on security best practice and consider it to have been a great success; we all came away with new and better ideas on how to implement improved arrangements for nuclear security.” Steve Robinson, the former Chief Executive of the The Environment Council and now independent facilitation consultant commented,
“I'd just like to say how grateful we were to have the opportunity of working with WINS on the inaugural event; we have many years of experience in facilitating complex workshops and were very impressed by the level of enthusiasm and professionalism amongst workshop participants, as well as the clarity of WINS’ objectives and the manner in which WINS’ purposes, plans and vision were discussed.”
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