ATTRACTIVENESS TO THEFT OR DIVERSION AS A CONSIDERATION IN THE PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF SNM

There is a growing consensus among personnel responsible for the handling and protection of nuclear materials that certain types and forms of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) in Department of Energy (DOE) Category I can be moved to a lower category because of their relative unattractiveness for theft or diversion. A collective effort by the authors to create a model based on such an \"attractiveness factor\" resulted in a \"decision tree\" that will determine a suitable category of protection for each particular group or batch of material. The tree considers (in addition to quantity) such factors as type and condition, selfprotecting radiation level, piece size, dispersion or dilution, spacing in storage, and ease of recoverability.