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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Determining safeguards requirements for nuclear power reactors

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6558097

In the design of safeguards systems for commercial nuclear power plants and in the review of license submittals, it is necessary to determine the systems, components, and plant areas for which protection is required. Sandia Laboratories has conducted several studies to identify the vulnerabilities of nuclear power plants to sabotage or theft, to determine possible consequences of reactor sabotage, to recommend means by which sabotage or theft can be prevented, and to formalize the procedures for determining safeguards requirements for specific plants. The studies have addressed only the subnational (terrorist) threat and thus have concentrated on the problem of sabotage which could endanger public health and safety. This paper discusses: (1) the general characteristics of nuclear power plants which influence safeguards requirements, (2) a basic strategy for protection of reactor plants, (3) an analytic approach which can be used to systematically identify the protection requirements for specific plants under a variety of protection strategies, and (4) selected results of the application of the analytic approach to a typical nuclear power plant.

Research Organization:
Sandia Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
EY-76-C-04-0789
OSTI ID:
6558097
Report Number(s):
SAND-78-0456C; CONF-781007-6
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English