25th international nuclear safety training course is underway

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will host 44 people from 33 countries today through May 8 at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the 25th International Training Course (ITC) on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities.

To commemorate the 25th ITC, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington and IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security Denis Flory will participate in opening ceremonies.

Harrington and Flory, who have over three decades of successful ITC collaboration, will share their perspectives on how global threats have changed and what those changes mean for protecting nuclear materials and facilities.

“Threats to nuclear materials and facilities often seem very abstract, but in this course we provide practical training that equips participants to implement the highest standards of nuclear security,” Harrington said.

ITC participants learn international legal instruments and IAEA guidance on physical protection concepts and technology by way of formal classroom training, hands-on experiments and subgroup exercises.

“Our long-established cooperation over this international training course is a perfect opportunity to strengthen nuclear security in the IAEA member states through the development of practical competences in the field,” Flory said.