Development of Performance Testing Programs to Support Insider Vulnerability Assessments

The Department of Energy (DOE) requires that its facilities conduct performance tests to demonstrate that important safeguards and security systems perform at appropriate levels, and that the numerical values used in vulnerability assessments are valid. In order to comply with this requirement, facilities must develop performance testing programs. The program should describe how each of the system components or combinations of components are tested and the frequency of such tests. The individual performance test plans for each of the system components or combinations should describe how the test is performed, what it is being tested against, what constitutes a success or failure, and how associated probabilities and confidence statements are derived. This paper describes how the plan is developed and how the results of the plan can be utilized in the validation of vulnerability assessments. In order to efficiently utilize resources available for testing, careful planning and analysis is necessary. This is especially critical as resources available for testing appear to be diminishing.