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INSIDER THREAT SECURITY CONSIDERATIONSFOR ADVANCED AND SMALL MODULAR REACTORS.

 The wide range of nuclear power plant technologies currently in design
globally have an assortment of unique characteristics that create novel
security considerations compared to large conventional nuclear power
plants.

Some of these characteristics create “insider threat”
considerations for nuclear security, where insiders are defined as
individuals with legitimate access to nuclear facilities and materials who
use this access to carry out sabotage or theft of nuclear material.

These include a lack of mature security culture in developer organisations,
serial plant manufacturing in a production line environment, plant siting
in remote and isolated areas, minimised staff numbers, teleoperation of
plants by offsite staff, the increased reliance on digital instrumentation
and control systems, and the potential for greater involvement of foreign
experts and third-party suppliers, especially on short-term bases for, e.g,
refuelling and maintenance.

The paper takes a technology agnostic approach
to examine what these factors may mean for insider threat risks and
suggests that plant designers should be identifying and minimising the
opportunities of insiders to act throughout the engineering design process.
Doing so is anticipated to strengthen effective insider threat mitigation
in deployed small and advanced reactors.

 Kings College 21st April 2025 – https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/311074601/Paper_381_Insider_Threat_for_SMR.pdf

April 23, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors