Will Tobey, Chair of the WINS Board, posed a challenge to the members of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) at its Annual Meeting, which took place 22 to 26 July 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland:
By 2025, every person in this room, and every person worldwide who is employed professionally in the nuclear materials management, security, nuclear forensics and safeguards fields will have the opportunity to take certified professional development courses to help demonstrate their professional competence.
This challenge recognises how important it is to provide professional certification in the essential areas of nuclear and radioactive materials management, just as certification is already available in many other scientific and technical fields.
2005 Challenge
Mr Tobey’s challenge follows one that took place at INMM’s 2005 Annual Meeting when Charlie Curtis, then President of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, challenged the INMM membership to establish a new international organisation whose purpose would be to identify and share international best practices on nuclear security. The INMM leadership rose to the challenge; after a three-year planning effort, the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) was launched in 2008 at the 52nd IAEA General Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Launch of the WINS Academy
Since its founding ten years ago, WINS has achieved many important milestones, including the launch of the WINS Academy in 2014, which offers the world’s first online certification programme in Nuclear Security Management. The WINS Academy is now supported by international commitments from 15 countries (see IAEA INFCIRC/901), a growing body of over 1,200 participants from 92 countries, and strategic partnerships with like-minded national training organisations that support the development of certified training programmes based on quality management standards.
Expanding Professional Development Opportunities
WINS has demonstrated the results of what can happen when committed individuals accept and meet a grand challenge. Other professional bodies now need to step forward and contribute to this effort in their own areas of expertise. The benefits will be enormous for current and future practitioners.
