Nuclear material is at higher risk during transport than in any other phase of the nuclear fuel lifecycle. Nuclear materials are transported in the public domain where adversaries have an upper hand by taking advantage of the time and location of the theft or sabotage attempt. As such, even modest threat profiles for transport of nuclear and radioactive material can require substantial detection and delay measures to support timely response. Vehicle tracking augmented with technology that improves on-the-scene situational awareness at a remote monitoring center has been adopted as a de facto standard approach for transportation security. At present, the extended vehicle tracking and situational awareness capabilities needed for a nuclear material shipment, as is provided by the purpose designed, Transport Security Tracking and Reporting (T-STAR) System, do not exist in a single commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution. Typically, the COTS systems that excel in one area are deficient in other areas, presenting challenges to designing well-rounded, robust systems. Still, COTS solutions can offer the basic set of tracking and situational awareness capabilities by indicating last update time, current location, and route taken. Incorporating vehicle and driver performance measures (via the vehicle’s controller area network (CAN) bus and video) with other data streams allows telemetry and other shipment information to be assessed in novel ways. This paper describes the operation, capabilities, and features of various conveyance protection systems and approaches; assesses emerging technologies and how they could be used through a unified interface; and enumerates additional ways to provide early detection using vehicle, onboard technologies, and simple equipment to improve protection during transport.
Year
2022
Abstract