Nuclear Regulatory Commission releases security inspection report

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) released an unclassified version of its annual report to Congress this week.

The report details the NRC’s security inspection program from the previous year. It provides information regarding the overall security and safeguards, including force-on-force exercises, for commercial nuclear power reactors and category 1 fuel cycle facilities in 2018.

Category 1 facilities are those that NRC considers being of high strategic importance.

The goal of the report is to keep Congress and the public informed of the NRC’s efforts to oversee the protection of the nation’s civilian nuclear power infrastructure and strategic special nuclear material.

The report explains that in 2018, the NRC conducted 192 security inspections at commercial nuclear power plants and Category I fuel cycle facilities. Those included 21 force-on-force inspections, which involved simulated attacks on the facilities to test the effectiveness of a licensee’s physical protection program.

Further, the report points out that when NRC inspectors identify a security finding during an inspection, they ensure that the licensee implements appropriate compensatory measures to correct the situation if they have not already been implemented by the licensee. The details of security findings are considered sensitive and are not released to the public.