Regulation of Nuclear Security in Ukraine: Contribution from International Technical Assistance Projects

As highlighted in the Ukrainian Regulatory Threat Assessment Report for 2017, a strong physical protection regime ensuring the state regulation of physical protection in Ukraine has been established. However, significant gaps in nuclear security regulation still exist and pose a substantial threat. Therefore, the international technical assistance project intended to identify areas to improve the regulatory framework for nuclear security was implemented and resulted in a list of primary nuclear security regulations to be developed. The successful implementation of the project for development of the first position on this list – General Nuclear Security Provisions – enables implementing IAEA nuclear security fundamentals into Ukrainian practices and opens the way for the development of subsequent nuclear security regulations. However, the Russian invasion, especially the seizure of the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia NPPs, revealed new threats and requirements for nuclear security, which are also addressed in this article.