Utilizing a Digital Twin to Investigate Nuclear Proliferation Across Various Reactor Types

Digital twin technologies can provide a system which passively monitors a nuclear reactor and provides various data feeds to international safeguards inspectors to help determine if or when nuclear proliferation may be occurring. Safeguards inspectors are required to visit facilities and verify operations have been conducted according to a laid out plan; however, this process is time consuming, and with limited funding it is imperative that time spent at a nuclear facility is focused on key areas. To explore the potential to relieve some of the time-consuming tasks and provide a focused in-person investigation, a virtual digital twin was developed.  The virtual twin was developed to explore the proliferation potential of three distinct reactor types (sodium fast reactor, pebble bed reactor, and light water reactor) was created to showcase the usability and versatility of the digital twin. Both diversion and misuse scenarios were explored to determine how a digital twin could provide inspectors with an understanding of how proliferation may occur and where the most likely areas for proliferation would be.