Background
Radioactive sources are widely used in medicine, industry, agriculture, and research around the world. While they provide significant societal benefits, their misuse, loss of control, or malicious use can have serious consequences for safety, security, and public confidence. As the global use of high-activity sealed radioactive sources continues, strengthening their security remains an important international priority.
Most countries have regulatory frameworks that address radioactive source security across the entire lifecycle, combining graded physical protection measures, personnel reliability programmes, and a strong security culture. Ensuring continuous improvement requires integrating human, procedural, and technical aspects into a coherent and auditable system.
Standards are central to achieving this integration. At the human level, standards clarify expectations and professionalise security roles by defining responsibilities, competence requirements, and structured training programmes. At the procedural level, they transform security from a set of isolated measures into a managed process — requiring documented risk assessments, access authorisation procedures, incident response plans, and periodic reviews. At the equipment level, standards establish performance criteria, testing requirements, maintenance practices, and interoperability rules, promoting security-by-design principles such as physical resistance, tamper protection, and cybersecurity.
Despite ongoing progress, awareness, adoption, and practical implementation of industry standards remain uneven, particularly in regions where regulatory and technical infrastructures are still developing. Building on the successful project led by Elekta and SNL to establish IEC standard 63322:2025 on the security of medical equipment containing high-activity sealed radioactive sources, WINS has organised this online roundtable to systematically explore the role of standards in strengthening radioactive source security.
Objectives
The roundtable will provide participants with the opportunity to:
- Raise awareness of the role of industry standards and certification in strengthening radioactive source security
- Explore standards at the equipment, facility, process, and personnel levels
- Promote harmonised, standards-based solutions that measurably improve security outcomes
- Examine international case studies demonstrating successful implementation of standards
- Foster dialogue between industry, regulators, operators, and standards development organisations
- Support longer-term uptake of standardised approaches to radioactive source security
A dedicated segment will address cybersecurity standards relevant to radioactive source security, reflecting the growing recognition that cyber threats can directly affect physical security systems and require integrated, coordinated approaches.
Audience
The roundtable is open to individuals from all over the world.
The target audience includes stakeholders involved in the design, regulation, operation, and oversight of technologies using radioactive sources, including:
- Manufacturers of equipment containing radioactive sources
- Medical, industrial, and research facility operators
- Regulatory authorities and inspectors
- Standards development organisations
- Radiation protection and nuclear security professionals
- Cybersecurity specialists working with medical or critical technologies
- International organisations and technical support organisations
Process
This online roundtable will be interactive in format and built around expert presentations, moderated panel discussions, regional case studies, and live Q&A exchanges. Discussions will address both technical standards and practical implementation experiences, ensuring relevance for regulators, operators, and manufacturers alike.
The event will be held in English.
Time: 14:00–17:00 CEST
