Developed with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and with input from a respected international panel of nuclear security experts, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) Nuclear Security Index assesses the security of the world’s deadliest materials: highly enriched uranium and plutonium. A first-of-its-kind resource, the Index is designed to encourage governments to take actions and build confidence in the security of their materials. Now in its third edition, the NTI Index is recognized as the premiere resource and tool for tracking progress on nuclear security and identifying priorities.
The NTI Index assesses nuclear materials security conditions in 24 countries with one kilogram or more of weapons-usable nuclear materials across a broad framework capturing policies, actions, and other conditions that shape their nuclear security. An additional 152 countries with less than one kilogram of weapons-usable nuclear materials or none at all are assessed across a subset of the framework. This “theft ranking” was included in the 2012 and 2014 editions of the NTI Index.
For the first time, the 2016 NTI Index also looks at a third set of countries in a new “sabotage ranking.” An act of sabotage against a nuclear facility could result in a significant radiological release with consequences on the same or larger scale as the accident at Fukushima, Japan. This assessment reviews the nuclear security conditions of 45 states with respect to the protection of nuclear facilities against sabotage. Importantly, this new assessment provides a first-time look at the security conditions of states with less than one kilogram of or no weapons-usable nuclear materials but that have nuclear power plants or research reactors.
Click here for more information and to download the NTI 2016 Security Index.
