Development of an evaluation parameter for physical protection in INPRO and its case study on Republic of Korea’s PWRs

Abstract Evaluation parameters (EP), including evaluation scales (ES), for assessing a physical protection status of an INS (innovative nuclear system) in the INPRO have been developed; and a case study on the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) PWRs, using the developed EPs, has been performed. The INPRO proliferation resistance (PR) and physical protection (PP) methodology (developed by the IAEA) is comprised of a BP (basic principle), a UR (user requirement), a CR (criterion) and an IN (indicator). In the case of the INPRO methodology for PR, an EP and an ES that may facilitate the evaluation process are provided with definitions in the manual; but they are not given for the area of PP. In this study, we have developed parameters which can be used to evaluate the PP status for both an INS and an existing nuclear power plant. The developed EPs and ESs contain all the possible components that may affect the PP status. They were made based on an IN and acceptance limits that are specified in the manual. The evaluation tables are provided for some EPs such as material type, insider attack and vulnerability tests to increase the reliability of the evaluation. A case study on this methodology had been performed on the ROK’s PWRs. The results showed that the physical protection status of the ROK’s PWRs satisfied most of the EPs; however, some parameters such as the DBT, and the QA system did not meet the requirements. It has been seen through the case study that the EPs and the ESs developed are very useful for evaluating the physical protection status of a nuclear facility.