NTS hosts UK-USA nuclear security technical exchange
Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) has welcomed a team of nuclear security experts from the US to its home port in Barrow-in-Furness as part of a bilateral security technical exchange programme.
The delegation’s visit was organised and facilitated by NTS, in order to facilitate bilateral UK-USA collaboration in a range of nuclear security disciplines, including insider threat mitigation, cyber security, armed guarding and response, and transport security.
Representatives from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory toured the specialist nuclear transport vessel Pacific Heron to understand its security features and capabilities, as well as visiting other nuclear sites across the UK to exchange expertise with their security teams.
NTS has a long-standing relationship with the US DOE, having worked in partnership with them on several complex nuclear movements in support of international non-proliferation goals.
In 2022 NTS played a key role in a collaborative project to remove over 30 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Japan to the USA, with the successful completion of the project announced by US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan.
Alex Barrow, NTS Development Lead for Government, Security & Resilience, who organised and hosted the four-day visit, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the security expertise we have in NTS but also learn from our partners in the US.
“The sharing of knowledge and experience is key to sustaining worldwide nuclear security and these visits are vital to enhance the global security of nuclear transportation and storage.
“We’ll continue to work closely with our partners to ensure we share our safe, secure and reliable practices for the benefit of everyone.”
NTS and the NNSA will continue to work together to arrange further exchanges between US and UK nuclear organisations, including reciprocal visits to the USA, in the near future.
