Risk informing security at the us nuclear regulatory commission

Abstract

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has efforts underway to better risk inform security regulations. The NRC has conducted two workshops to obtain stakeholder feedback on how to accomplish this. Topics at the last workshop included an in depth look at risk methodologies/approaches, the likelihood of initiating events, modeling and simulation tools, cyber security, and the using the attractiveness of special nuclear material to an adversary to inform NRC’s graded security program. In addition, the NRC staff is responding to recommendations from a NRC Risk Management Task Force that concluded in 2012. Among its recommendations was to better communicate between safety and security to allow both disciplines to leverage off each other. This paper will summarize the current initiatives to better risk inform security and provide a detailed overview of NRC’s efforts to consider the attractiveness of special nuclear material to a potential adversary in the development of a graded security program. In particular, this effort has identified levels of dilution as a key factor that could be used to adjust security requirements.