The United States and the United Kingdom are all guns in, and coming together to conduct an emergency preparedness exercise. This mock exercise will be executed in the form of a staged war-game that initiates simulated cyberattacks on their own nuclear power plants.
This is being carried out in an effort to understand and test their own preparedness towards possible terrorist attacks in the future and evaluate the resilience of their nuclear infrastructure.
The topnotch two-day Nuclear Security Summit 2016, which was convened by U.S President Barack Obama, had commenced in Washington D.C. on March 30. The event was attended by top officials from varied countries across the world, including David Cameroon, Prime Minister of Britain.
The schedule for the mock drill has not been declared as yet, but the purpose, as stated in their statement to the press, is to test the preparedness and assess the overall vulnerability of the nuclear power plants in the event of any evil acts of nuclear terrorism.
Further, both the US and UK are in mutual talks about an exchange deal. The deal involves the transfer of 700kg (1500 pounds) of nuclear waste that is slated to be shipped from UK to US. In exchange UK will receive supplies of Uranium from US that will help in contributing towards the diagnosis and treatment of certain forms of cancer.
This exchange could be considered as the largest shipment exchange of radioactive waste by any country which the anti-nuclear advocates are against about. This is owed to the potential risk these wastes could have on the environment and people, during its transit.
Nonetheless, Government sources described the swap as a "landmark deal," adding: "it's a win-win: we get rid of waste, and we get back something that helps us to fight cancer".
The Nuclear Security Summit 2016 was attended by more than 50 highly distinguishable world leaders. This summit is the fourth and final one organized during Obama's presidency.
The purpose of these esteemed summits is to achieve tangible improvements in the security of nuclear materials and stronger international institutions that support nuclear security. These summits are organized once in every two years since 2010.
Simulated cyberattacks on similar lines have been carried out in the past as well. In 2015 a staged attack was carried out to test the banking system, in a bid to bolster its cyber security.
Photo: Christiaan Colen | Flickr
