Next Generation Safeguards Initiative NGSI: Human Capital Development Program

1. Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI): Human Capital Development Program

2. Presentation Overview The international safeguards human capital challenge Core capabilities and expected attrition of the U.S. safeguards workforce Addressing the human capital challenge through the NGSI HCD Program Program Elements Program Accomplishments Program Metrics of Success Future challenges and next steps

3. International Safeguards Human Capital Challenges The United States By 2024, an estimated 82% of international safeguards specialists at the U.S. National Labs will have left the workforce1 The IAEA In 2008, IAEA officials estimated that more than a third of senior IAEA staff are expected to retire by 20112 and more than 50% by 20133 The combination of growing workload, increasing complexity of the work, and anticipated retirements pose particular challenges to the IAEA Department of Safeguards.

4. U.S. International Safeguards Workforce Staffing Study The NGSI HCD Program has completed a human capital requirements study of the U.S. National Laboratory safeguards workforce which compiles comprehensive, empirical data on the expected impact of retirements on that workforce, and assesses this impact across core capabilities

5. Safeguards Core Capabilities (representative list) Facility Level Core Capabilities 1. Nuclear Materials Accounting 2. Non-Destructive Assay 3. Destructive Assay 4. Containment Technology 5. Data Authentication 6. Surveillance Systems 7. Design Verification Technology 8. Safeguards Simulation & Modelling 9. Information Systems 10. Environmental Sampling & Analysis 11. Safeguards Systems: Approaches, Design, & Evaluation 12. Technology-Specific Proliferation Risk Analysis ABOUT THE LIST The respondents who self-identified as international safeguards specialists were asked to provide information about their international safeguards field(s) of specialty and work experience. This information was used to identify the international safeguards core capabilities for each of these respondents based on a set of 23 core capabilities defined for this assessment. Based on breadth of scope, the 23 core capabilities are divided into three groups: facility-level core capabilities, state-wide core capabilities, and international-level core capabilities. I This set of core capabilities is not meant to be definitive, but rather representative of the types of specialized capabilities involved in nuclear non-proliferation international safeguards work. (We are revisiting this list in FY-2011) THE RESULTS The number of core capabilities per international safeguards specialist ranged from 1 to 8. Approximately 80% of the international safeguards specialists have 3 or fewer core capabilities. Of note, international safeguards specialists whose information indicates those core capabilities most closely associated with nuclear materials accounting tend to be among the oldest groups. ABOUT THE LIST The respondents who self-identified as international safeguards specialists were asked to provide information about their international safeguards field(s) of specialty and work experience. This information was used to identify the international safeguards core capabilities for each of these respondents based on a set of 23 core capabilities defined for this assessment. Based on breadth of scope, the 23 core capabilities are divided into three groups: facility-level core capabilities, state-wide core capabilities, and international-level core capabilities. I This set of core capabilities is not meant to be definitive, but rather representative of the types of specialized capabilities involved in nuclear non-proliferation international safeguards work. (We are revisiting this list in FY-2011) THE RESULTS The number of core capabilities per international safeguards specialist ranged from 1 to 8. Approximately 80% of the international safeguards specialists have 3 or fewer core capabilities. Of note, international safeguards specialists whose information indicates those core capabilities most closely associated with nuclear materials accounting tend to be among the oldest groups.

6. NGSI HCD Program The Human Capital Development (HCD) Program is: Revitalizing and expanding the international safeguards human capital base in the United States by attracting and training a new generation of talent Recruiting high quality candidates for positions in the IAEA’s Safeguards Dept. Assessing ways to integrate efforts to promote human capital development in the United States with our international engagement programs

7. NGSI HCD Program Elements University Engagement: encouraging incorporation of safeguards and nonproliferation curriculum into undergraduate & graduate level coursework Short Summer Safeguards Courses: technical- and policy-oriented, ranging from 1 to 3 weeks in length at National Labs or nearby universities Safeguards Internships: college students and recent college graduates, with assigned mentors, perform hands-on work on safeguards teams at the National Labs NNIS Graduate Fellowship: funds tuition & provides stipends for technical graduate students focusing on safeguards/nonproliferation Post-Doctoral Fellowships at the National Labs on safeguards teams Mid-career/Professional Development support, including a safeguards professional network Workshops on human capital issues such as Lab-university partnerships or IAEA recruitment

8. NGSI HCD Program Accomplishments In its third year, the HCD Program had several significant accomplishments: Sponsored 136 safeguards interns, representing 62 universities, at 9 U.S. DOE National Laboratories Funded post-doctoral fellowship positions at 8 National Laboratories Organized 6 summer safeguards policy and technical courses, which attracted 123 students and young professionals from 57 universities Worked with 9 U.S. universities to develop new undergraduate and graduate level coursework on international safeguards/ nonproliferation Initiated a Nuclear Nonproliferation and International Safeguards (NNIS) Graduate Fellowship Program, which will fully fund two to four years of graduate study for 10 fellows beginning in the Fall of 2010

9. University-Lab partnerships Promoting an interdisciplinary (technical/policy) approach Targeting universities With large nuclear engineering programs and/or strong nonproliferation policy programs Which have a close working relationship and geographic proximity to a National Lab Identifying university faculty champions Encouraging regional networks of Lab-university partnerships

10. Summer Courses and Internships at the National Laboratories In 2008 – 2 summer courses and 51 interns In 2009 – 5 summer courses and 110 interns In 2010 – 6 summer courses and 136 interns

11. 2010 NGSI HCD interns Approximately 6% of NGSI interns in a given year are foreign nationals. Approximately 6% of NGSI interns in a given year are foreign nationals.

12. Metrics of success Of tracked 2008-2009 NGSI HCD students and interns: 36% returned for another Lab internship in 2010 23% were converted to U.S. national laboratory staff 18% have gone on to pursue a nonproliferation-focused Masters or PhD 5% are on assignment at the IAEA

13. Towards the Future Integrate efforts to promote human capital development in the United States with our international engagement programs Open to Foreign Nationals: Safeguards internships at U.S. National Labs Short summer safeguards courses at U.S. National Labs Post-doctoral fellowships at U.S. National Labs Begin second phase of U.S. National Lab safeguards workforce study; revisit core capabilities Place special focus on mid-career professionals and new safeguards staff

14. Contact information Dunbar Lockwood Dunbar.Lockwood@nnsa.doe.gov +1-202-586-6951

15. Endnotes Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, prepared for U.S. DOE/NNSA NA-24, “Nuclear Nonproliferation International Safeguards Scientist and Engineer Workforce at U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories.” September 2010. “In fifteen years (by FY2024), an estimated 82% ...of international safeguards specialists employed in FY2009 will leave laboratory employment.” Jill N. Cooley, IAEA, “Building Safeguards Expertise: Projected IAEA Needs,” Next Generation Safeguards Initiative Workshop, Washington, D.C., September 11-12, 2008: “In the next 3 years, approximately 35 percent of senior staff will retire.”  Alicia de Reynaud, Head of the IAEA’s Safeguards Programme & Resources Office, Presentation to the NGSI Workshop on Enhanced Recruiting for IAEA Safeguards, Brookhaven National Laboratory, October 22-23, 2008. See also the Report of the Commission of Eminent Persons (CEP) on the Future of the Agency, GOV/2008/22-GC (52) INF/4, May 23, 2008, p. 29: “Half of [the Secretariat’s] top management and its senior inspectors are expected to…retire in the next five years.”