Posted for Declan Butler

An international initiative announced today will help plug a glaring gap in efforts to secure nuclear materials worldwide from terrorists and proliferators.

The World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) plans to do for nuclear security what the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) does for nuclear safety. WANO was created in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident as an international forum for nuclear power plant operators, government agencies and nuclear experts to share their experiences of safety practices and adopt common best practices. WINS will take a similar approach, with nuclear players, including scientific experts; sharing sensitive security information among themselves. This, they hope, will strengthen accounting, control and physical protection of nuclear materials and facilities worldwide.

“Our message to everyone handling nuclear materials is that a terrorist nuclear attack anywhere in the world will cast a dark cloud over the entire nuclear community, no matter where the material originated,” says Sam Nunn, a former Senator and co-chair of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), an influential non-profit organization in Washington DC. “WINS will help ensure that we can enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy while defending against its dangers.”

NTI has been the driving force behind WINS. The money has come largely from two $3 million contributions from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a New York based charity, and the US Department of Energy. Operational funding will come from governments and the nuclear industry. Roger Howsley, former director for Security, Safeguards and International Affairs at British Nuclear Fuels, will be WINS executive director.

Nunn was speaking today at the WINS launch alongside Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Samuel Bodman, secretary of the US DOE. Although WINS will be separate from the IAEA, it will collaborate closely with the agency, and will also be based in Vienna.

There is a glaring gap in the way nuclear material is monitored at the moment: no organisation takes responsibility for securing nuclear materials worldwide, and detecting and preventing nuclear terrorism (see Nature’s editorials from January and February). ElBaradei says he is “pleased to endorse WINS,” as a step towards creating a global nuclear security regime. “The full support of nuclear operators is key to effective nuclear security.”