PNNL

Abstract

Material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) regulatory documents play an important role in securing and protecting nuclear material by regulating a variety of activities at different hierarchical levels. The development, implementation, and practical application of these regulatory documents requires a significant investment of financial and material resources. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the regulatory development process and the extent to which regulations improve the effectiveness of MPC&A at nuclear sites. The joint Russian and U.S. Regulatory Development Project has a goal of evaluating the effectiveness of regulatory documents developed for MPC&A. As part of this joint Project, a methodology for evaluating effectiveness has been developed. This methodology was developed around physical protection objectives. The developed methodology specifies physical protection objectives to be accomplished through the implementation of a regulatory system based on the physical protection goals at the nuclear sites. It includes approaches to assessing regulatory effectiveness, the hierarchical structure of physical protection objectives to be accomplished through implementing regulations, a “mapping” of the physical protection objectives to the regulatory framework, a list of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of physical protection regulations and effectiveness indicators, as well as means and methods for gathering information and implementation of this evaluation.