PROCESS TO CREATE THE NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ANNUAL PHYSICAL SECURITY TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PLAN

To help meet the requirement described in an amendment to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Act of 2008, Sandia National Laboratories’ Security Systems and Technology Center was tasked by NNSA to develop a plan that could be used to help prioritize security expenditures utilizing methods that are objective and repeatable. NNSA asked Sandia to develop a method that takes into account different types of proposed projects not easily compared within the nuclear weapons complex (e.g. policy driven, sustainment, research and development (R&D), vulnerability based, or replacement). The plan is intended to assist the NNSA in managing its technology investments during the next five-fiscal year period. This paper describes the process developed to create the NNSA Physical Security Technology Management Plan. Through the implementation of the process, NNSA’s security technology investment decisions will have a more consistent enterprise focus and application, improved sharing of information of physical security technologies, and more cost-effective utilization of technologies. The process includes the following five steps: (1) Review Principles, (2) Collect Information, (3) Analyze Information, (4) Develop Plan, (5) Implement Plan. Utilizing the process can help NNSA identify its physical security technology investment options, prioritize the options through a data-driven process based on risk management principles, and effectively communicate its decisions to all stakeholders. Moreover, employing a predetermined methodology for technology investments can aid NNSA in achieving its goals of transforming into a leaner, more efficient and less costly enterprise.