Dr. Sunil Chirayath, associate director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute, traveled to Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to speak at the Workshop on the Enhancement of Nuclear Engineering Curriculum with Nuclear Security Subjects. The workshop was sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Partnership for Nuclear Security and was aimed at enhancing UGM educators’ understanding of nuclear security.
UGM’s Department of Engineering Physics is the only university in Indonesia offering a nuclear engineering curriculum. Therefore, they are ready to play an important role in the development of nuclear security and nuclear security culture in Indonesia, especially in human resources development. The workshop also had three participants from one of the hospitals in Indonesia that handles a large number of radioactive sources for diagnosis and treatment.
Workshop sessions focused on introducing nuclear security issues to these faculty members so that the design of their nuclear engineering courses can be informed by a basic knowledge of nuclear security. Topics covered included inter alia, threats, legal framework, nuclear security culture, information security, integration of nuclear safety, security and safeguards (3S), planning nuclear security at state and facility level, and also best practices in nuclear security education.