INTEGRATED PHYSICAL SECURITY SYSTEM AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, under contract to the Department of Energy, operates the Savannah River Plant for the production of defense nuclear materials. The site encompasses a fuel fabrication facility, three operating nuclear reactors, and two fuel processing facilities, which are separated by as much as 15 miles. A safeguards intrusion detection and access control system designed by Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, has been in operation at the reactor sites starting in September of 1984. During that same timeframe an analysis of the plantsite determined the desirability of an integrated plant safeguards system encompassing all six noted facilities. This paper describes the integrated system architecture, which includes facility access control systems, entry control facilities, a plantwide access enrollment system, intrusion detection systems, area central alarm stations, a plantwide backup central alarm station, and an extensive safeguards communication system. Design of the additional portion of the system began in 1985 and will be completed in 1990. Construction began in 1987 and will be completed in 1992. Provision of the integrated system described is a large effort. The plantwide project effort approaches $150 million in cost and encompasses: • Four miles of communication loop. • Nine entry control facilities. • Three central alarm stations. • Twenty-four major computers. • A 12,000-alarm point capacity system.