THE AUTHENTICATION APPROACH FOR THE FAST CRITICAL ASSEMBLY (FCA) CONTAINMENT AND SURVEILLANCE (C&S) SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

The FCA C&S system is representative of large scale operator-provided systems likely to be offered to the Agency for safeguards use, and is currently nearing the end of its field trial. The authentication of such a system in a way that is non-intrusive to normal operation is a major challenge. A previous paper * ' outlined the problem, and described a number of the methods that were under consideration. This current paper describes the specific approach that has been selected, some reasons for the choices made, and the corresponding implications for authentication equipment design. Although the approach is specific to FCA the principles described have possible relevance to other operator-provided systems. The final working installation at FCA is expected to be a sub-set of the initial features provided, the choice to be dictated by field experience.