PERFORMANCE-BASED VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTSTHE DEPO PROCESS

Evaluations of physical protection systems can be performed primarily in two ways: feature-based analysis and performance-based analysis. In a feature-based system, a set of design criteria is established, and the system evaluation is based on the presence or absence of these features. In performance-based evaluations, a set of system objectives is established and then the performance of the physical protection system as a whole is evaluated to assess its effectiveness in meeting the objectives. Over the years, the DOE and IAEA have adopted and improved the performance-based methodology for evaluation and design of physical protection systems. It is believed that this process provides a better representation of physical protection system effectiveness. The performance-based process developed by these agencies follows a systematic approach by characterizing the target materials, threats, and the components of the protection system including detection, delay, and response. The result of this evaluation is a numerical estimate of the risk of failure.