EVALUATION METHODOLOGY FOR FIXED-SITE PHYSICAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS

A system performance evaluation methodology has been developed to aid the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the implementation of new regulations designed to upgrade the physical protection of nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The evaluation methodology, called Safeguards Upgrade Rule Evaluation (SURE), provides a means of explicitly incorporating measures for highly important and often difficult to quantify performance factors, e.g., installation, maintenance, training and proficiency levels, compatibility of components in subsystems, etc. This is achieved by aggregating responses to component and system questionnaires through successive levels of a functional hierarchy developed for each primary performance capability specified in the regulations, 10 CFR 73.45. (Ref. 1) An overall measure of performance for each capability is the result of this aggregation process. This paper provides a description of SURE.