Week-Long Nuclear Forensics Training Conducted in Kyiv

03 Jun 2013 - 07 Jun 2013

From June 3 – June 7, 2013, the first training course for national nuclear forensics experts from GUAM countries was held at the Kyiv Institute for Nuclear Research (KINR). Approximately 20 nuclear forensics experts from Ukraine, Armenia , Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova participated. They learned to perform measurements of the characteristics of different types of nuclear materials and radioactive sources using portable equipment for detection of radioactive and nuclear materials during smuggling intercepts.

Experts from the Ukrainian Nuclear Forensics Laboratory (NFL) and teachers from the George Kusmycz Training Centre of KINR provided lectures and practical exercises using real nuclear materials and radioactive substances. The course was jointly organized by STCU and KINR in cooperation with ISTC, and with the financial assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy/ National Nuclear Security Administration’s Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (GIPP) Program.

A second course will be held at the National Science Center "Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology" (NSC KIPT) in about 6 months. At the conclusion of the project a lessons-learned workshop will be held in Kyiv at the Institute for Nuclear Research.