Canadas International Efforts to Combat Nuclear Terrorism Dr. Nicole Evans Global Initiative Technic

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Canadas International Efforts to Combat Nuclear
TerrorismDr. Nicole EvansGlobal Initiative
Technical Workshop on Anti-Nuclear Smuggling
Assistance5-6 September 2007
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Overview

• Canadian international assistance programs to
  help prevent nuclear terrorism are multifaceted.
• They work to comprehensively address the threat
  of nuclear terrorism.
• Canadas Global Partnership Program (GPP) is
  spending over 200 million to implement GICNT
  Principles 1-5.

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GICNT Principles
1. Improve accounting, control and physical
protection systems for nuclear materials and
radioactive substances 2. Enhance security of
civilian nuclear facilities 3. Improve the
ability to detect nuclear materials and
radiological substances and prevent illicit
trafficking in them 4. Improve capabilities of
participants to search for, seize and establish
safe control over unlawfully held material 5.
Improve capabilities for response, mitigation and
investigation 6. Prevent the provision of safe
haven to terrorists and financial or economic
resources to terrorists 7. Improve our
respective national legal and regulatory
frameworks and 8. Promote information sharing.
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The Nuclear Threat

• There is an unacceptable risk that terrorists may
  acquire a nuclear device.
• A relatively simple, Hiroshima-style nuclear bomb
  can be built using open source blueprints and
  only 15 kg of highly-enriched uranium (or 4 kg of
  plutonium for a slightly more sophisticated
  device).
• Terrorists have formally been charged with
  seeking nuclear weapons and materials to make
  them, and a fatwa has been issued authorising the
  use of nuclear weapons against civilians.
• Open sources reveal that several terrorist groups
  have the capabilities, if not the materials,
  necessary to construct a crude nuclear device.
• The most effective way to prevent nuclear
  terrorism is to prevent access to weapons usable
  nuclear materials.

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The Radiological Threat

• Highly radioactive materials can be used to
  construct a radiological dispersal device, or a
  dirty bomb, in which conventional explosives
  are used to disperse radioactive materials.
• Documents describing the construction of dirty
  bombs have been found in many conflict areas,
  from Afghanistan to Chechnya. Many believe that
  terrorist groups have the capabilities and the
  intent, if not the materials, to construct dirty
  bombs.

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Methodology

• In order to prevent nuclear smuggling, several
  elements need to be addressed.
• Canada employs a layered, defence-in-depth
  methodology for its international nuclear
  security assistance programs
• Nuclear and other radiological materials are
  secured in a room, building and then facility
• Materials are secured during transportation
• Movement across international borders is detected
  and interdicted.
• Sustainability considerations are integrated into
  all of Canadas GPP projects.
• Canadas current focus is on countries of the
  former Soviet Union due to the sheer quantity of
  materials located in the region, but we are
  considering geographic expansion.

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Program delivery mechanisms

• Bilateral (government-to-government)
• Third-party (piggybacking)
• Multilateral (International Atomic Energy Agency)

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Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials
(including in transportation)

• Canada is currently working bilaterally at five
  Russian nuclear facilities, in both civilian and
  defence sectors.
• It is anticipated that Canadas bilateral
  physical protection program will continue to grow
  within the programs envelope.
• Through its 8 million contribution to the IAEA
  Nuclear Security Fund, Canada is also funding
  physical protection upgrades to nuclear
  facilities in other countries, as well as
  supporting the development of a physical
  protection training centre in Obninsk, Russia.
• This aspect will remain a key focus of Canadas
  strategy for international assistance to help
  prevent nuclear terrorism.

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Recover, secure and dispose of highly radioactive
sources

• Canada has recently completed two bilateral
  projects to help remove, secure, dispose and
  replace highly radioactive sources in Russia
  currently powering navigational devices
  (radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or
  RTGs).
• In cooperation with the US Global Threat
  Reduction Initiative (GTRI), Canada will remove,
  secure, dispose and replace RTGs along Russias
  Northern Sea Route (Artic Ocean). It is
  anticipated that this cooperation will continue
  beyond 2008.
• In cooperation with Norway, Canada has removed,
  secured, disposed and replaced RTGs in the White
  Sea.
• Canada is also working through the IAEA to
  recover radiological sources.
• Canadas Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building
  Program is working with MDS Nordion to undertake
  a needs assessment mission to Georgia and, if
  orphaned sources are identified, help to safety
  dispose of them.

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Strengthen border security capabilities

• In cooperation with the US Second Line of Defence
  (SLD), Canada is working to strengthen Ukrainian
  border security capabilities.
• Through the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund, Canada is
  also funding border security upgrades to Ukraine
  and other countries in the region.

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Plutonium production and disposal

• A key element in Canadas long-term strategy to
  help prevent nuclear terrorism is to reduce the
  overall quantity of nuclear materials.
• Canada contributed 9 million to the US-led
  project to shut-down the last weapons-grade
  plutonium producing reactor in Zheleznogorsk,
  Russia (EWGPP).
• Canada will also support international efforts to
  dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium that has been
  declared as excess by Russia.

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Conclusion

• The threat of nuclear terrorism hangs over all of
  us, and we are working hard to ensure that this
  threat diminishes.
• Addressing this threat demands a concerted and
  coordinated international effort to prevent
  nuclear smuggling.
• As part of this effort, Canadas Global
  Partnership Program is implementing a
  comprehensive, cohesive set of international
  assistance projects.