WINS believes strongly that nuclear facility operators and regulatory authorities should provide confidence-building assurances about the effectiveness of their security governance arrangements. Such assurances enable external stakeholders—including other governments and the local and international community—to take a view on how well the nuclear security oversight arrangement are working. Additional benefits are that they help to enhance the reputation of individual companies and States as socially responsible actors, minimise business risk and contribute to long-term business success. WINS also believes that meaningful public assurances can be made without putting sensitive information at risk.
In early 2014, WINS conducted a study that focused on the major nuclear power operators and the nuclear regulatory authorities of every State planning to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in the Netherlands in March 2014. Titled Corporate Governance Arrangements for Nuclear Security: Analysis of Annual Reports from Companies and Regulators, this study consolidated and analysed—for the first time—annual reports drawn from the targeted sample. Its goal was to obtain an overview of current corporate governance arrangements for nuclear security, enable a comparison between governance arrangements for safety and security, and obtain best practice examples of corporate governance reporting of security issues. As a result, it provided a useful starting point and reference.
Now, in preparation for the final NSS to be held in Washington, D.C., in March 2016, WINS has conducted a second study that again reviews the regulatory and corporate governance arrangements for nuclear security among the 53 States that attended the 2014 NSS. In contrast to the first study, however, the framework for this study incorporates a variety of parameters for both regulator and operator reports. Our overall goal was to obtain a comprehensive overview of how well nuclear security is currently being reported by regulators and operators, identify areas of concern, highlight good reporting practices, and make recommendations for the future.
We are delighted to announce that this report, entitled Corporate Governance Arrangements for Nuclear Security, has now been published and can be downloaded by our Members in the Knowledge Centre.
