On October 24-26, 2011, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), in partnership with Croatia’s State Institute for Radiological and Nuclear Safety, hosted a three-day workshop in Zadar, Croatia to bring together international technical experts to discuss best practices for nuclear detection. These efforts recognize the international partnerships that will further strengthen global nuclear security efforts.
Nuclear detection and nuclear forensics are two priority efforts of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism’s (GICNT) and Nuclear Security Summit workplan, supported by DNDO. Under the framework of the GICNT Nuclear Detection Working Group, DNDO hosted the Croatia workshop to develop a collaborative international Best Practices Guide on Awareness, Training and Exercises relative to nuclear and radiological detection. Participants included 52 attendees from 19 member nations and organizations across the world.
Earlier this year, DNDO launched initial discussions for the best practices guide at a GICNT workshop in Cordoba, Spain. Since that time, DNDO coordinated efforts of a 17-member GICNT drafting group that produced the initial draft guide for review this week in Zadar. The document will be finalized in advance of the March 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea.
This collaborative best practices guide supplements the earlier DNDO-led international development of the Model Guidelines Document for Nuclear Detection Architectures that outlines the implementing framework required for effective national-level nuclear detection architectures. Discussions for the third collaborative document in the series – focused on planning and organization for effective radiological and nuclear detection – will be launched at the next Nuclear Detection Working Group meeting in February 2012.