Actions Undertaken ByThe Federal Agency For Nuclear ControlIn The Area Of Insider Threat Mitigation

In the past years, the Physical Protection has aimed at preventing external threats. It has been working on the establishment and reinforcement of physical protection systems surrounding nuclear materials, facilities, and documents, and on raising awareness about the importance of having a strong security culture in the nuclear sector. Besides the external threats, physical protection systems have to provide protection against insiders. Insiders pose a significant threat to nuclear/radiological security, as they generally possess access rights which, with their authority and knowledge, grant them greater opportunity than outsiders to bypass dedicated nuclear and radiological security elements. The incident we had in 2014 was an important lesson on the impact of insider threats. This forced us to adopt, on short term, some specific security and vigilance measures. It also proved that consequences of insider threats need to be taken seriously on longer term, as they can have an impact on the stability of the country and the safety of the population. The event also confirmed the necessity to work closely together with all different authorities and stakeholders specialised in these issues, nationally and internationally. In 2016, recognizing the international community’s need to address this threat, the United States sponsored IAEA Information Circular 908 Joint Statement on Mitigating Insider Threats. This joint statement seeks to “build awareness of and acknowledgement that the insider threat is credible and that they pose a serious threat to the security of nuclear and other radioactive materials.” The United States Department of Energy and the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), convened the inaugural International Symposium on Insider Threat Mitigation in Belgium in March 2019. The purpose of the symposium was to support the 2016 Joint Statement on Mitigating Insider Threats (INFCIRC/908) and develop and foster an integrated insider threat mitigation strategy in the domain. This paper will further elaborate on the outcomes of the Symposium. ThisSymposium created a forum for discussion and sharing experiences and best practices on this important topic within the international community, but also identified the need to look for tangible and lasting results.