A Safeguards Risk Related Approach to Inspection Scheduling and Topic Selection

Scheduling facilities and selection of topics for safeguards and security inspections may be based on a relative safeguards risk ranking of the facilities under consideration. Safeguards risk is defined as a combination of the potential threat, facility vulnerability to various malevolent events, and the consequences that may occur if a malevolent event is successfully carried out. Quantification of the vulnerability (on a relative scale) and consequences may be possible, however the probability of a particular threat is impossible to estimate. The problem has been researched and an approach has been formulated which yields a relative safeguards risk ranking for a given group of facilities, malevolent events and potential threat groups. This approach may be useful in helping to direct inspection activities to high risk operations instead of being driven by a single element such as vulnerabilities or consequences.