In March, the TEES Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) worked with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) to conduct a nuclear security workshop on the IIT-M campus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The workshop, which was sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Partnership for Nuclear Security (PNS) with assistance from Dr. Prafula Behera of IIT-M, included lectures on nuclear security, nuclear security culture, and insider threat analysis.
NSSPI Ph.D. student Jeremy Osborn presented a series of 13 lectures on nuclear security, threat assessment, design basis threat, target identification, physical protection systems, adversary path analysis, insider analysis, and nuclear security culture. Participants also completed a tabletop exercise on nuclear security, physical protection systems, and insider threats.
According to Osborn, feedback from the IIT-M participants indicated that “the experience was positive and successful.” He also noted, “The students showed a high level of interest.”
While at IIT-M, the group gave Osborn a taste of local culture by taking him to see the region’s monuments and participate in the Holi celebrations.
NSSPI regularly sends senior Ph.D.-level students to Indian universities to present lectures on nuclear security, which gives our students the experience of conducting a workshop in an international context. Jeremy Osborn is currently working with NSSPI Director Dr. Sunil Chirayath on a project to develop computational and experimental methods for reliably predicting and measuring unique intrinsic physical characteristics of separated weapons-grade plutonium produced by certain reactor types.