NUCLEAR SECURITY STANDARD: ARGENTINA APPROACH

Argentina has a comprehensive regulatory system designed to assure the security and safety of radioactive sources, which has been in place for more than fifty years. In 1989 the Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety branch of the National Atomic Energy Commission created the “Council of Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and Installations”(CAPFMIN). This Council published in 1992 a Physical Protection Standard based on a deep and careful analysis of INFCIRC 225/Rev.2 including topics like “sabotage scenario” Since then, the world ‘s scenario has changed, and some concepts like “design basis threat”, “detection, delay and response”, “performance approach and prescriptive approach”, have been applied to the design of physical protection systems in facilities other than nuclear installations. In Argentina, radioactive sources are widely used in medical and industrial applications with more than 1,600 facilities controlled by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (in Spanish ARN). During 2005, measures like “access control”, “timely detection of intruder”, “background checks”, “and security plan”, were required by ARN for implementation in facilities with radioactive sources. To “close the cycle” the next step is to produce a regulatory standard based on the operational experience acquired during 2005. ARN has developed a set of criteria for including them in a new standard on security of radioactive materials. Besides, a specific Regulatory Guide is being prepared to help licensees of facilities in design a security system and to fulfill the “Design of Security System Questionnaire”. The present paper describes the proposed Standard on Security of Radioactive Sources and the draft of the Nuclear Security Regulatory Guidance, based on our regulatory experience and the latest international recommendations,