Next Generation Remote Monitoring Systems Program Development of the Secure Sensor Platform for International Safeguards

In international safeguards a critical requirement exists to provide authenticated and secure information from a variety of sensors that are put in place to monitor nuclear processes and material storage. Many of these sensors cannot rely upon existing infrastructure for power or communications and therefore must be self-contained. Over the past few years an effort, funded by the DOE Office of Dismantlement and Transparency, NA-241, has been undertaken to develop a sensor platform which addresses these requirements. The result has been the Secure Sensor Platform or SSP. The SSP is a concept which provides sensor related support capabilities for remote monitoring including data security. SSP based sensors operate autonomously, are typically battery powered and communicate using RF. The SSP concept is intended to provide a platform which can be designed to interface with a sensor for a specific application in a relatively short design cycle and lower cost. There are four fundamental SSP capabilities that are present across the entire SSP based sensor family. These are communications, security, power management and cryptography. The resulting SSP based device can operate with all of the available capabilities, or a smaller subset of these as required. SSP sensor interfaces can range in complexity from relatively high, for a tiny gamma-ray spectrometer, to simple, for an authenticated door switch. Current development activities are focused on a low-cost, long life, fiber optic seal utilizing RF and internet communications for remote monitoring. Sensors that are based upon the SSP principles, such as the fiber optic seal, generate high confidence information over long periods of time with virtually no maintenance. These devices continuously affirm their operating status through authenticated and encrypted periodic state-of-health reports as well as immediate reporting of user defined alerts. SSP based sensors are an important component in modern safeguards related system implementation. The intent of this paper is to present the current status of the SSP development and to examine current and future possibilities for roles of this family of sensors in international safeguards application.