On 25 June, UNICRI held the virtual kick-off meeting for the CONTACT – Black Sea project, “Enhancing capacities to prevent the trafficking of radiological and nuclear material in the Black Sea region”. Representatives of State security, law enforcement agencies and nuclear regulatory authorities from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine attended the meeting, as well as representatives of donor countries, namely, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA), the United Kingdom Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (UK BEIS) and the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).
During the meeting, the project concept and work plan were presented to the partner countries, and several coordination and implementation-related issues were discussed in detail.
The CONTACT – Black Sea project is a 30-month project aiming at enhancing capacities of nuclear security stakeholders in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to devise and carry out operations in order to thwart radiological and nuclear (RN) trafficking attempts, as well as to foster regional cooperation and communication among the three partner countries. The project is jointly funded by the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA), the United Kingdom Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (UK BEIS) and the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).