For more than 10 years, ISA personnel have served as members of site upgrade teams at more than a dozen Russian civilian and military enterprises, supporting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s mission to upgrade security of nuclear materials where currently stored in Russia, and improve the Russian capabilities to control, account for and protect these materials.

ISA personnel have supported the National Nuclear Security Administration’s MCC mission since inception - to help the Russian Federation consolidate their nuclear materials to fewer buildings and sites, and to convert excess materials to low-grade fuel products, all in the interest of supporting the creation of a smaller, more-securable Russian nuclear infrastructure.

ISA personnel serve as key members of teams organized by the National Nuclear Security Administration to work in East European (and other) countries to secure land, air and maritime borders with monitors and trained personnel to detect, interdict and prevent the illicit smuggling of nuclear materials.

The term “trusted agent” refers to “trusted representative” who can perform a specific technical functions at times, places, and locations to which US personnel cannot travel because of time, distance, or security concerns. ISA personnel in Moscow are former or retired military officers with technical backgrounds and many years of working in support of US nonproliferation initiatives, and can be deployed to all regions of Eastern Europe, including those off-limits to US personnel [such as Chechnya and Dagestan]. ISA “trusted agents” can perform assurance inspections, site surveys – almost any technical function – when you can’t.

Bringing together unique data gathering capabilities and unparalleled experience, ISA has published a number of specific studies for the National Nuclear Security Administration on issues associated with the threat of nuclear smuggling.

More recent studies include:

• Relational Threat Model: A Report on Threats to Border Radiation Monitoring and Strategies for Counteraction
• A Paradigm to Understand the Threat of Nuclear Smuggling
• Country Study-Ukraine: A Report on Issues Relevant to Implementing Nonproliferation Initiatives in Ukraine

Language support: we support our many missions with a staff of elite linguists, most of whom have advanced degrees and technical backgrounds, and manage everything from simultaneous conference interpretation to document processing. Our bilingual senior technical managers can “sit in” for you at meetings and negotiate agreements and contracts on your behalf, without requiring interpretation.

Logistics: ISA has a full network of in-country support services for travel and work in Eastern Europe: this includes transportation, cellular communication, internet access, visa and travel support, and a fully-equipped and staffed office in Moscow.

In-Country Business Needs: We have experienced Russian attorneys and bookkeeper on staff, and a very deep list of contacts in almost any technical field of research or work in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.

Configuration Management: We specialize in maintaining two-language planning or operating documents that require constant updates in BOTH languages while being CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD by both sides (despite cultural and bureaucratic differences). Some examples:

• Interface control documents for NASA, highly-technical descriptions of the various electrical, mechanical and other interfaces between Russian and US hardware;
• Bilingual Microsoft Project planning schedules for use by managers on BOTH sides;
• Bilingual Software Development Plans