A World of Their Own: The Distinctive Challenges of Protecting Radioactive Sources

The physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities is a highly mature field, dating virtually from the inception of the nuclear age, with longstanding international requirements and guidance. While the international community, including both the IAEA and Member States, has achieved much progress within the decade since approval of the Code of Conduct, the security of radioactive sources remains a new field. This relative novelty is generally well recognized. Much less discussed, however, is the central proposition of this paper: that the security of radioactive sources is not just new, it also poses challenges that are distinct from the security of nuclear material and nuclear facilities. As a result, the apparent assumption on the part of much of the international community that the security of radioactive sources is essentially a lighter version of nuclear security needs to be seriously examined and the corresponding approaches to radioactive source security programmes need to be more fully adapted to these distinct challenges. The result will be a more practical, straightforward approach that is more readily understood by users and regulators, and thus that is more likely to be applied and institutionalized, and in the end more effective and sustainable.