INCORPORATING INTERNATIONAL SECURITY-BY-DESIGN (SEBD) APPROACHES FOR MOLTEN SALT RESEARCH REACTORS

Current thinking hypothesizes that benefits from security by design (SeBD) can be experienced at any point up to the traditional “security as a bolt-on” paradigm. Yet, the feasibility of applying a SeBD approach based on investigating and identifying how security credit can be captured in facility operational design decisions seems particularly valuable for molten salt reactors. In response, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of International Nuclear Security (INS)—with support from Sandia National Laboratories—has developed a systems engineering and regulatory lifecycle model framework for SeBD. Invoking key concepts from systems theory, this framework aligns best practices in engineering design with best practices in regulatory decision-making to describe SeBD options—potentially offering more economical design for, and efficient engineering of, security solutions for advanced and small modular reactors (A/SMRs). For example, consider the proposed Molten Salt Research Reactor—designed by Natura Resources and the Natura Resources Research Alliance (NRRA) and hosted at Abilene Christian University’s (ACU) Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing (NEXT) Laboratory in the United States. As ACU is pursuing licensing through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for clarity, convenience, and comprehensiveness, current NRC regulations (and supporting guidance documents) were used simply as a notional structure against which opportunities for internationally applicable SeBD can be inserted. Representative examples and related SeBD insights were collaboratively developed for each chapter of the associated Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR), including numerous opportunities for addressing security needs presented through technical, functional, or procedural design decisions. In addition, throughout the PSAR, the phrase “details will be addressed in the application for the Operating License” highlights clear opportunities to introduce SeBD analysis and solutions. Consideration of security controls within chapters of the PSAR other than security may avoid expensive and operationally intensive security controls. This collaborative feasibility study suggests that the approach to SeBD helps address the need for a balance between optimizing both operational and security concerns.