Professor Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana, United States
Nuclear safety and nuclear security share a common goal of protecting people, property, society, and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Integrating these two disciplines has received more attention over the last several years to cut costs, improve operations, and reduce risk. Risk assessment is used to determine the likelihood and consequences of harmful events occurring at a nuclear facility. In an effort to model both nuclear safety and security risk, the Potential Facility Risk Index (PFRI) was developed and modified to evaluate and quantify these risks associated with nuclear facilities. This was achieved by using traditional safety probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) techniques with security pathway analysis. While assessment is important, valid indicators of nuclear safety and security risk must also be established for the decision-making process. This is especially important if this process is to be applied to new nuclear and radiological facilities, especially advanced and small modular reactors (SMR). Given the difficulty in acquiring sensitive or proprietary facility data for new reactors, hypothetical facilities are often used for proof-of-concept analyses. Therefore, this study compiled and analyzed facility specific nuclear safety and security criteria with the PFRI methodology using a generic SMR facility designed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Hypothetical scenarios of nuclear safety and security incidents were analyzed with this facility. Results of the study are expected to aid in the rational and quantitative assessment of overall SMR facility risk that can be applied for multiple designs.
