ASSESSMENT AND APPROVAL OF REINFORCED PROTECTION OF VEHICLES USED FOR THE SHIPMENT OF SENSITIVE NUCLEAR MATERIAL - Presentation

Most sensitive nuclear materials are usually shipped in specific vehicles with a reinforced protection; such vehicles are generally escorted, tracked and watched over from a distant control centre. Among the various publications made by the IAEA in relation with the CPPNM, the INFCIRC/225 introduces major recommendations for physical protection of nuclear materials in general and particularly during transport. For instance, the text recommends — for the terrestrial shipment of most sensitive material — the use of vehicles specially designed to resist attack and equipped with a vehicle disabling device. Applying such a recommendation at a state level requires the intervention of a competent authority; the competent authority defines the framework of a validation process starting with the design of the vehicle and ending with the vehicle protection approval. The validation process needs articulating responsibilities between the three major actors who are: the operator in charge of the design, a technical support body in charge of technical evaluation, and the competent authority who is responsible for the final approval of the protection. This paper focuses on the approval process of reinforced protection vehicles in France; it aims at showing how such a process may contribute to the security of nuclear material shipments. The paper notably focuses on the responsibilities of the operators, the competent authority and the technical support organization. This approval process of the protection of a vehicle allows the authority to ensure that the protection setup is effective and operational in order to protect the cargo from a malicious threat. In such a process, the authority defines the threat and the objectives of protection; the authority may choose, in certain case, to recommend protection devices or solutions; the need for recommendation versus objective definition mostly depends on the environment of the vehicle and the constraints induced. The authority may appeal to a technical support organization for evaluating technical solutions and their implementation. In the French security framework the role played by the technical support body is emphasized by the fact that IRSN houses the national control centre used for tracking of sensitive nuclear shipments. Due to that position, IRSN is acting in the definition of the technical solutions for tracking and securing the material during shipment. Among all the conditions of approval of a vehicle protection, the paper presents the provisions to be taken by families depending on the sensitivity of the cargo. These provisions take the form of technical specifications to be observed such as embarked systems. The paper also describes the process starting from the vehicle protection design, including the appliance for approval, the technical instruction until the final approval. The paper also shows the approach followed to control the vehicles protection efficiency all along the period of their use.