November 2021 Course on “Safeguards for Policymakers: What You Need to Know”

From 29 November to 3 December 2021, the VCDNP held its second specialised short course on “Safeguards for Policymakers: What You Need to Know.”

In a virtual formal, the VCDNP welcomed 22 participants from diplomatic missions in Vienna as well as from national capitals representing either ministries or national regulatory bodies drawn from 20 different countries. Women made up 59 percent of the participants, and 38 percent of lectures featured female speakers. During the course week, the participants had the opportunity to attend 15 substantive sessions led by world-class experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), governmental and regulatory bodies, and leading think tanks.

The week-long course covered a wide range of topics on nuclear safeguards, including nuclear basics, the evolution of safeguards and their place in the global non-proliferation regime, an overview of the planning, implementation and evaluation of safeguards, as well as safeguards in practice. Safeguards inspectors and technical experts from the IAEA gave detailed overviews of what safeguards look like “on the ground” and what measures the IAEA uses to implement and evaluate safeguards, both in countries and at headquarters. State representatives also presented their best practices in the operation of nuclear regulatory bodies and State systems for accounting for and control of nuclear material (SSACs). Finally, the course participants discussed the case studies in safeguards non-compliance, including the legal and institutional underpinning for non-compliance reporting.

The course allowed participants to engage with the subject matter interactively. Speakers utilized Mentimeter polls to further interactive communication. In addition, participants engaged in group conversations and socials. The course ended with a test of the participants’ knowledge gained throughout the week in the form of a safeguards trivia game played in teams.

See the course agenda

At the end of the course, participants completed an anonymous course evaluation and provided their feedback on the course content and structure. The participants evaluated the course overall either as very good or excellent. The following comments were made (quoted as written):

The course was made possible thanks to the support of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office of the Government of the United Kingdom. The VCDNP also expresses its gratitude to the IAEA and its Departments of Safeguards for its cooperation in implementing the course.