CEA PHYSICAL PROTECTION POLICY

CEA (Atomic Energy Commission), as nuclear operator, is responsible for the physical protection of its nuclear materials and its facilities against theft and radioactive sabotage. It has to develop all the necessary means in order to achieve the physical protection results required by the regulatory authority. Inside CEA, the Central Security Division is in charge of security matters, especially physical protection. CEA, as nuclear operator, has to provide the regulatory authority with documents proving that it fulfills the requirements and showing the efficiency and reliability of its physical protection system. Especially, it has to provide PPSVA (Physical Protection System Vulnerability Assessment). Through this document, operators show that their nuclear materials are well protected against external or internal actions aiming at unauthorized removal of a significant quantity of sensitive materials. CEA has also to provide files showing that nuclear facilities are wel protected against radioactive sabotage. In all these files, it has to show the efficiency of the delay and detection devices that are operating in each facility. For this reason, the Central Security Division has installed on the site of Saclay, located in the vicinity of Paris, a physical protection laboratory. Delay devices, as fences, reinforced doors and windows are tested in order to determine the necessary time to defeat these obstacles. Detection devices as infrared, microwave sensors are tested in order to determine the probability of detection and the reliability. With these results, the Central Security Division is able to advise the facility operators when they are implementing physical protection systems. This paper will describe how CEA is organized to fulfill the physical protection requirements and how the laboratory is involved in the physical protection studies.