Nuclear Industry Self-Regulation
The Center for Global Security has been working on the concept of “industry self-regulation” so that it can be used as an additional mechanism to enhance government export control systems and improve the security of the nuclear supply chain to prevent the misuse of nuclear, radiological and dual-use commodities for nefarious purposes. Our main objective is to encourage industry participation in securing the nuclear supply chain by identifying successful existing self-regulation approaches among other industries, assessing their applicability to the nuclear industry, conducting feasibility studies and promoting secure expansion of nuclear power worldwide while stemming misuse of the nuclear materials, equipment or technology for weapons purposes.
As nuclear power experiences a global renaissance, the United States and the international nuclear community will increase their participation in the global nuclear market resulting in increased cooperation and exchanges in nuclear technology among suppliers, recipients and other actors involved in the nuclear supply chain. This participation is likely to lead to increased pressures on the export controls systems of the participating countries to monitor and regulate the flow of nuclear, radiological and dual-use commodities to ensure their peaceful use. Industries represented in the nuclear supply chains could help alleviate some of this strain and help prevent the illegal use of these commodities by taking a proactive approach in overseeing their exports and protecting their nuclear and radioactive and dual-use items at the facilities.
The Center for Global Security (CGS) recognizes that regulatory systems of governments may no longer be sufficient to address the transnational problem of illicit trade in nuclear technologies. As the nuclear industry is becoming more globalized and multinationalized and as global threat shifts to non-state actors, industry involvement in promoting nuclear security at the source becomes essential. The need for an industry self-regulation approach has originated from the nexus between transnational terrorism and nuclear proliferation. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, the A.Q. Khan illicit trade network, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed Elbaradei's calls for an increased role of the nuclear industry in combating nuclear proliferation all serve as motivators for analyzing worthy self-regulation approaches. The United Nation's Security Council Resolution 1540 calls “… upon all States to … develop appropriate ways to work with and inform industry and the public regarding their obligations under such laws…”
The need for industry involvement is further underscored by the growth of nuclear power and application of nuclear technologies worldwide, particularly in rapidly emerging economies whose regulatory systems may lag considerably behind technological advances. The complexity of international trade highlights the importance of fostering a culture of export and import security among individual companies in the nuclear industry to help enhance the effectiveness of controls on nuclear commodities.
The CGS has conducted an initial analysis of industry self-regulation approaches by exploring cases of different industries and extracting lessons learned from these cases. This study entitled “Nonproliferation Promoted By Industry Self-Regulation” can be found under CGS Publications.