Nuclear Island: Secure Nuclear Material Territory (Concept of Development and Implementation Stages)

The National Research Center Kurchatov Institute (NRC KI) has enjoyed a fruitful cooperation with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and it’s national laboratories within the framework of the joint U.S./Russia Material Protection, Control and Accounting Program (MPC&A) since 1994. In conjunction with this cooperation, all nuclear NRC KI buildings and checkpoints have been upgraded with modern MPC&A equipment and it’s staff have been trained and are now considered high-quality specialists in the field of nuclear security. Additionally, NRC KI and DOE and it’s national laboratories have cooperated to create a culture and infrastructure of nuclear security and safeguards whose performance is world class. NRC KI and it’s US DOE partners have conducted a series of analyses of insider and outsider threats using multiple vulnerability assessment tools including the battle board methodology. This analysis of vulnerability and the simulation of potential hazards as well as the performance tests on the existing systems and equipment, resulted in a defense strategy jointly developed and agreed to by the NRC KI and the DOE, it’s laboratories and sites. This comprehensive defensive strategy has led to a series of upgrades designed to considerably mitigate risk from outsider and insider threats.