Promoting Nuclear Security Education and Training Activities at Amity University, India

In the present era of global nuclear governance, it is the responsibility of every individual, not only the security personnel, to be accountable for the security of nuclear materials, facilities, and radioactive materials. Amity University and other Indian universities are the largest educational networks for young professionals who will enter the nuclear program in India and who will be involved in the management of nuclear and other radioactive materials in a wide variety of applications, such as hospitals, industrial applications, and nuclear facilities. Amity University Uttar Pradesh is taking a leading part to emphasize the importance of nuclear security amongst the students and faculty members of various Indian institutions and research organizations. Amity University is also motivating women academicians to take the lead in nuclear security. This paper describes details of various events organized in India with the initiative of INSEN, IAEA; Texas A&M University, USA; and WINS Academy, Vienna, Austria.


I. Introduction
Nuclear energy plays an increasingly important role not only in India, but for most of the countries around the globe. Non-proliferation is almost universally stated as an aspirational objective of nuclear technology development [1]. Understanding nuclear security in terms of technical, policy, and regulatory aspects is very important for achieving and maintaining globally a high level of safety and security at nuclear facilities. Human, technical, and financial resources are necessary to ensure effective nuclear security [2, 3]. Along with education, comprehensive training programs on nuclear security can strengthen nuclear security capabilities. The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) emphasis is to educate and train people in nuclear security globally through International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN) [4]. INSEN is an educational network of IAEA, using educational and research institutions to promote sustainable nuclear security education. The objective of the network is to enhance the global nuclear security program by developing, sharing, and promoting excellence in nuclear security education. Members of INSEN work together to develop educational materials (e.g., textbooks, instructional material, computer-based teaching tools, exercises and materials for laboratory work), as well as to conduct faculty development courses in the different areas of nuclear security. Members also collaborate for joint research and development activities to share scientific knowledge and infrastructure. Student exchange programs are also important activities of INSEN to foster international cooperation and exchange of information. Other activities of INSEN implement various degree programs, courses in nuclear security education, quality assurance of nuclear security education, academic thesis supervision, and evaluation, as well as survey the performance of faculty and students on the effectiveness of nuclear security education [5].
The first nuclear security summit was held in Washington, D.C. in 2010 to strengthen the concept of global nuclear security and nuclear governance; then, there were additional summits in Seoul during 2012, Hague during 2014, and finally in Washington, D.C. during 2016 [6-9]. These summits helped to strengthen international collaborations to support nuclear security practices worldwide. In the recent past, many countries have shown an interest in nuclear security education by offering courses and organizing various events on nuclear security. Students, along with faculty members of Indian universities, participated in a one month long "Nuclear Security Members also discussed and identified the issues which needed to be addressed, and they also assigned tasks to all of the working groups [5].
A. There is a need to empower women in nuclear security education to promote gender equality. One of the important initiatives of Amity University is to enhance representation of women in the Indian nuclear security program and to encourage women academicians to participate in various nuclear security activities in India, as well as overseas. In 2017, the Director and Head of Amity Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (AINST) was invited for a lecture and also a panel discussion on the topic of "Role of Women in Nuclear Security" during the INSEN annual meeting. In the panel discussion, women academicians from various institutions were encouraged to engage more in the field of nuclear security, as well as to inculcate leadership qualities. As a result of that, a woman academician of AINST participated in a panel discussion on "Best Practices in Nuclear Security" during INSEN-IAEA annual meeting in 2018. INSEN member from Amity University also presented a paper on "Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Physical Protection System for Nuclear/Radioactive Materials Used in Research Institutes" during the IAEA International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) in February 2020 [13].

III. Nuclear Security Events at Amity University Uttar Pradesh
The initiation of nuclear security education and training program at Amity University Uttar Pradesh started in August 2014 when a few students of Amity Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (AINST), along with a faculty member, attended the workshop on "Nuclear Security for Indian Universities" held at IIT Kanpur, which was conducted by Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI), Texas A&M University, USA [14]. Students were motivated so much after the workshop, and it was decided to organize events of a similar pattern at the Amity University campus to extend the knowledge and understanding of nuclear security. In this regard, a professional development course (PDC) was organized on the topic of "Insider Threats and Security Culture" during 2015 in collaboration with Kings College London [15-18]. The first week was held in June and the second week in August.
After the PDCs, nuclear security related courses, such as "Introduction to Nuclear Security" and "Nuclear Security and Security Culture," were introduced into the existing curriculum of Amity University as elective courses [19,20]. For further enhancement of knowledge, another PDC was organized in 2016 on "Human factor in Nuclear security," again in collaboration with Kings College London.
Amity University Uttar Pradesh established the INMM student chapter, which organized various events. Students, with the faculty advisor's support, regularly organize guest lectures, poster competitions, quiz competitions, and seminars at the university campus, and they also conduct an awareness program on the importance of nuclear technology among school students. The aim of the student chapter on campus is to promote the nuclear security awareness program among young professionals. A paper on "Risk Analysis for Nuclear and Radioactive Materials Used in Research Institutes" was presented at "INMM's 60 th Annual Meeting" during 2019 at Palm Desert, CA, USA [21]. Students of Amity University are carrying out their project work in the field of nuclear security, and a faculty member is also pursuing their Ph.D. in the field of nuclear security. Students and faculty members of AINST have been participating in various national and international competitions, workshops, and conferences, as well as attaining meritorious positions in nuclear security related events. One of the important topics covered during the workshop was "Comprehensive Nuclear Security Planning and Risk calculation." Details on various programs for calculating the risk of strengthening the existing nuclear security framework was discussed during the workshop. Senior professionals from various Indian universities presented their journeys on nuclear security curriculum development in their respective institutions.
Based on the feedback from the participants of the workshop organized during 2017, an advanced-level workshop on "Vulnerability Assessment of Nuclear Security System Design" was organized in 2018 in collaboration with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station at Texas A&M University, USA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), as well as financially supported by Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The workshop was designed for Indian university faculty members, students, and young nuclear professionals [shown in Pic. 3] to understand comprehensive nuclear security system design and how to perform vulnerability assessments. The lectures were on "Nuclear Security from 1.0 to 3.0," "Comprehensive nuclear security planning," "Introduction to nuclear security system vulnerability assessment," "Nuclear security culture," "Target identification," "Insider Threat Mitigation," "Uncertainties in Nuclear Security System," "Vulnerability Assessment," and "Effects of Insider Collusion on Nuclear Security System Design." A table-top exercise was also conducted to design a theft strategy for nuclear materials within a given nuclear power plant layout with a minimum possible probability of getting caught by security persons. Following these lectures, a quiz was organized by young professionals based on the understanding of the lectures of this workshop. Later, all the participants provided their feedback on this workshop. A concluding meeting was held by all the delegates from DTRA, ORNL, Texas A&M University, and faculty members of AINST for future collaboration and to increase the number of programs on nuclear security. . The adversary sequence diagrams were created to find the most vulnerable paths, and the risk values associated with them were calculated with the help of the EASI model. Further, the change in risk numbers due to changing the physical protection system parameters were also calculated. The probability of neutralization calculations was done with the help of the software drawn on lines of an established code of probabilistic safety assessment. In the last day of the workshop, honorary professorship was conferred to three scientists and academicians from the field of nuclear science and technology.

IV. Outcomes of the Events
A.

Establishment of "Amity Society for Nuclear Security"
"Amity Society for Nuclear Security" was established in 2018 under the umbrella of AINST, AUUP, Noida, India. The idea of launching such a society was introduced by the president of Amity Education Group. The society was inaugurated [26] in the presence of senior officials, faculty members, and students from reputed national and international organizations [Pic. [9][10]. The specific objectives of establishing the society were to bring together academicians and subject matter experts from the field of nuclear science and technology, as well as nuclear security for better insight of the global positioning of India. The society also aimed to discuss the challenges as well as opportunities of the emerging nuclear governance architecture.

B. Development of Nuclear Security Curriculum
The introduction of nuclear security into the curriculum of Amity University was an opportunity to update existing educational programs to address the need for sustainable knowledge to improve nuclear security and safety culture in Indian universities. Availability and accessibility of necessary resources is very important as per the development of a comprehensive nuclear security educational program. In this regard, the experts from industry and academia, along with the faculty of the Amity Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (AINST), contributed to developing nuclear security courses. Courses related to nuclear security and security cultures were introduced into the existing AINST curriculum in 2016 [20].
Recently in 2019, two more courses, "Physical protection systems" and "International and national legal framework for nuclear security," were also introduced in the existing curriculum of Amity University Uttar Pradesh. The purpose of introducing these courses was to enhance the understanding of all the elements of physical protection systems, policy, and regulators as well as international and national legal regimes regulating nuclear security. These courses are offered as elective courses to the students from various disciplines, including law. The courses were introduced according to the guidance given in various IAEA documents [27-32].

C. New Pathways for Students
This workshop has opened a new pathway for the students to carry out their training and development program on nuclear security in reputed institutions in India as well as abroad. It has been decided to launch an online nuclear security education portal among the members of the society, where all the members of the network can contribute in terms of providing nuclear security-related study materials and online lectures towards developing curriculum in Indian universities.

D. Future Workshops
The future workshops will be conducted for 1-or 2-weeks' duration to discuss in detail the technical aspects of nuclear security from the basic to advanced levels. This will also motivate junior researchers to carry out research on nuclear security. More hands-on exercises on nuclear security are planned.
Enhancement of the AINST lab facility was promised to support experimental exercises on nuclear security for other Indian universities in the future.

E. WINS Academy Participation
Participants were encouraged to enroll in the WINS Academy through the WINS Academy scholarship fund. As a result of the nuclear security events, many students have enrolled in WINS academy for certification program, and a few faculty members and students of Amity University and other Indian universities are the alumni of WINS Academy.

V. Future Plans
Nuclear security events organized at Amity University provided an excellent opportunity to the Indian participants to analyze the current status and the efforts to ensure nuclear security and safety of various nuclear materials and facilities as well as future challenges to tackle. The presence of truly experienced international subject matter experts and distinguished Indian scientists enabled cross-cutting discussions on a variety of topics related to nuclear safety and security. In the future, workshops will be conducted on various other aspects (e.g. physical protection, transport security, cyber security, etc.) to formulate concrete solutions and action proposals. Subject matter experts from various reported Indian organizations (e.g. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, Institute for Defense Studies and the Analysis, Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP)) will also be invited to deliver lectures on Indian policy regarding nuclear security. Collaborations will continue with nuclear aspirants on various activities that promote awareness of nuclear safety and security. The idea of establishing a remote laboratory was discussed during the INSEN annual meeting in 2017. This helped us to step forward in establishing a remote laboratory at Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India. We are in the process of establishing a state-of-the-art laboratory facility at Amity University Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with Texas A&M University and supported by DTRA for Indian universities to use so that particle training can be provided on nuclear security. A workshop on "Practical Training of Nuclear Security" using various detectors is planned at Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India in collaboration with Texas A&M, USA during August-September 2020. With the initiative of WINS Academy, Amity University will be organizing an advanced-level workshop during September 2020.

VI. Conclusions
The motives of INSEN are to promote sustainable nuclear security education among institutions, organizations, and universities globally as well as to provide materials for education. In pursuit of this goal, many events on nuclear security were conducted at Amity University with the collaboration of national and international organizations. INSEN members from Indian institutions actively participated in the events and also shared their journey in the field of nuclear security and nuclear security programs. These programs were able to promote best practices in nuclear security among the participants. Now, Amity University offers courses related to nuclear security to strengthen Indian nuclear security program amongst young professionals.