On October 14-16, 2014, NRSC’s experts took part in Mystic Deer tabletop exercise during the Nuclear Forensics Working Group Workshop in Budapest, Hungary. Nuclear Forensics is a practical-scientific research activity that aims at providing necessary technical evidence for detecting the crimes committed by the usage of the nuclear or radioactive materials. The key concepts of GICNT document “Nuclear Forensics Fundamentals for Policy Makers and Decision Makers” were discussed during the event. In addition, practical applications in relation to the Fundamentals were provided to participants. The participants discussed and carried out exercises in the area of Rules of Evidence. The most discussed topics were the development and the use of nuclear security tools that can be implemented at the national level, (e.g., in national nuclear forensics libraries and other places), and the associated decision-making considerations regarding policy-level issues such as resources, legal authorities, and interagency coordination.
NRSC is heavily involved in the development and expansion of Nuclear Forensics capabilities in Armenia. In particular, according to the RA Government decree, the NRSC provides National Security Service in the area of illegal nuclear and radioactive materials’ detection and characterization. In addition, NRSC developed the ARIS system that can be considered as a basis for development of National Nuclear Forensics Library.