Information collection and analysis of proliferation concerns play an increasing role in nuclear security in general and in nuclear safeguards in particular. The JRC considers different types of information to deal with security threats, mainly at national and global level, resulting from State and non State actors. Information collection and analysis tools are used to process open source information relevant for nuclear security issues.
JRC carries out analysis of proliferation concerns by combining nuclear fuel cycle expertise with export control and trade analysis. Export control is a key issue for non proliferation. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) develops and maintains so-called trigger lists of nuclear and dual use items (IAEA INFCIRC 254, part 1 and 2). These are also embedded in EU legislation (the EU Council Regulation EC/428/2009 and subsequent updates), which also implements the lists of other three export control regimes (MTCR, Missile Technology Control Regime, Wassenaar, Australia Group). In addition, the EU Regulation includes some items specified in the Technical Annexes to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Trade data services are available and are a potential source of additional information for supporting export controls and for informing non proliferation studies.
JRC analyses the situation in different countries and regions and drafts policy briefs in relation to specific nuclear and non-proliferation issues. The information is collected from open sources such as the internet, high resolution satellite imagery, data bases (e.g. from the IAEA) and specialised technical literature. The efficient generation of non-proliferation studies requires a dedicated IT infrastructure for the collection, management, analysis and archival of the related information.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency
The Institute of Nuclear Materials Management
