Diversion Path Analysis - A New Approach

Diversion path analysis (DPA) is a technique that evaluates the safeguards measures currently in place at a facility and determines whether modifications of existing counter-diversion measures are necessary to effectively protect the nuclear materials within the facility. This approach identifies credible avenues for the unauthorized removal of special nuclear materials from an authorized location to an unauthorized location within or outside the facility. The analysis proceeds systematically through five basic steps: information and data gathering, process characterization, analysis of diversion paths, identification of results and findings, and documentation. Countermeasures against these events can then be identified. Using these techniques, a team from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Proxemy Research, Inc., recently completed a DPA of a high enriched uranium processing facility. During this evaluation, the DPA techniques were streamlined and refined to produce a valuable, timely assessment tool. This paper discusses a new implementation of the DPA methodology that can be employed efficiently and effectively to assess a Department of Energy (DOE) or Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensee facility's safeguards and security system and demonstrate compliance with federal requirements.