From Uche Usim Abuja
The National Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) on Monday said that a multi-stakeholder template has been designed to identify and address nuclear security threats like insider abuse, software compromise and other issues that may disrupt the safe utilisation of nuclear energy in Nigeria.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAEC, Prof Yusuf Ahmed made the disclosure in Abuja at the opening of a three-day national workshop on nuclear security themed: Beyond Physical Protection Systems in Nuclear Facilities.
Ahmed, who was represented at the event by Mamman Tukur, noted that nuclear security, along with its peers of nuclear safety and safeguards, are the tripod on which most national nuclear energy programmes are anchored. This, he added, was essential to ensure the protection of workers, people and environment wherever nuclear facilities are operated.
He recalled that issues of nuclear security took center stage after the 9-11 terrorist attack of 2001 that destroyed the twin towers and the World Trade Centre in the United States.
“That singular event ushered in a global climate fear from which the global community is yet to recover. World leaders were astounded by the ferocity of the assault and resolved to guard nuclear materials and allied facilities most zealously with a view to ensuring that such materials do not get into the possession of non-state actors.
“To guarantee the entrenchment of this goal, several nuclear security summits have been held globally with far-reaching decisions made via international legal instruments that are binding on all nations. It is on this premise that Nuclear Security issues are entwined with National Security Issues.
“One of such international instruments is the International Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) and its amendments thereof, of which Nigeria is a signatory and it places the responsibility of securing nuclear material squarely on the state and NAEC; which is a specialized agency of government, with nuclear materials domiciled in various centres under its supervision. Nuclear security is a governance regime that proactively seeks to ensure the prevention, detection and response to theft or any intentional or malicious act on nuclear materials and associated facilities”, the NAEC CEO explained.
He further described the theme of the workshop as most apt because it intends to look beyond the ordinary.
“What readily comes to mind whenever nuclear security is mentioned is the usual hardware that is most visible; that is; gates, guards and guns. But, what about the ‘software’ — the humans who man and manage the security surveillance systems, the close circuit television cameras (CCTVs) etc. What is their state and frame of mind? This workshop, therefore, is a welcome development as it wishes to examine the machine-human interface, after all every hardware system is only as good as the software operating system within it. In other words, ‘a machine is only as good as its operator.
“The centrality of the human factor in the overall dynamics of the physical protection systems is obviously what matters most. Thus, this workshop is expected to explore such salient aspects such as the importance of nuclear security culture; issues of insider threat and how to identify and mitigate them; the importance of a human reliability programme and also the behavioural observation programme. It is believed that at the end of this workshop, actionable recommendations would be made to management for implementation and that participants would become more security conscious through the inculcation of a nuclear security culture”, he added.
Also speaking at the event, another official of NAEC, Mr Enemoh Adaka said the programme officers a good window for staff to learn and detect malicious acts against nuclear facilities.
“We want to ensure that beyond guards and guns and gates, we want to do more. We want to guard against insider threats, strengthen leadership and come up with a sound template to operate with”, he added.