NRC evaluates security inspection program, seeks efficiency improvements

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) praised the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Thursday for its approval of a limited assessment of the security baseline program, including “force-on-force” evaluations that will test nuclear plants’ protective systems against design-basis threats.

“The nuclear energy industry has demonstrated that it has the most hardened facilities in the U.S. infrastructure,” NEI Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Tony Pietrangelo said. “The performance of U.S. nuclear facilities during four cycles of security inspections remains exemplary. The commissioners’ direction to staff on its proposed review is a recognition of the maturity of the nuclear security programs.”

Security baseline inspections of nuclear facilities evaluate plant operators’ effectiveness in protecting against design-basis threat, such as radiological sabotage, or the theft or loss of special nuclear materials. An additional memorandum from Oct. 5 calls on staff to concentrate inspection efforts on areas that are most likely to yield improvements and efficiencies.

”The industry has invested billions of dollars in security capital investments over the years that add redundancy to protective strategies,” Pietrangelo said. “Assessing the current inspection regime to gain efficiencies and give appropriate credit for operator actions, use of FLEX strategies and law enforcement response is an important step to further enhancing security at our facilities.”