Under the auspices of the Memorandum of Understanding between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and the US National Nuclear Security Administration, a first-of-its-kind blended cyber-physical incident response exercise took place at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Organized by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and Sandia National Labs, the exercise enabled the participating organizations to test cyber and physical security defense systems and response capabilities in a simulated cyber and physical attack. Nearly 100 people from government and industry participated in the exercise, including representatives from AECL, the US National Nuclear Security Administration, CNL, Sandia National Labs, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Bruce Power, and Idaho National Laboratory.
With this exercise, CNL was able to verify its methodology for evaluating how well an organization responds to a cyber and physical attack. The event also helped advance the understanding of response effectiveness and advanced Canada-US collaboration in this important area of nuclear security.