Norman Bird, of the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), and Stephen Gregory, Chief Executive Officer, Harnser Risk Group, are the latest UK speakers announced for the Critical Infrastructure Protection & Resilience Europe (CIPRE) conference. It’s running in London on February 12 and 13.
Norman Bird, Senior Technical Lead, Nuclear Security at National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is invited to present ‘Potential for utilisation of a new computer-based quantitative modelling and simulation approach for assessing nuclear security performance’ at CIPRE.
Current UK nuclear security regulations require nuclear site/tenanted site Duty Holders or Operators to undertake a security vulnerability assessment of their critical infrastructure / assets. Similar traditional processes have applied for assessing critical national infrastructure (CNI) to date.
Recently, particularly in the USA, new techniques to achieve compliance have been evolving towards an ‘evidence’ or ‘outcome-based’ understanding of nuclear security measures and challenging their inherent robustness under attack conditions by utilising 3D computer modelling and simulation techniques to design, review and optimise the Physical Protection System (PPS) and help to improve situational human awareness and overall operational performance.
This presentation summarises a recent NNL pilot study to assess the potential for utilisation of a new computer-based quantitative modelling and simulation approach for assessing nuclear security performance and its application to a complex UK nuclear facility. The pilot study demonstrated the benefits of adopting a more co-ordinated approach and a more effective analysis of security threats. The study also illustrated how owners / regulators could use the approach to more readily assess an operator’s performance, consistency in approach and their consistent and successful mitigation of the threat.
This new modelling and simulation approach could equally be applied to CNI resilience in addition to nuclear-related infrastructure, as a similar postulated threat exists and vulnerability assessment is also required. The approach also allows cost benefit analysis versus security effectiveness to be examined to evaluate which are actually the most cost effective security measures for adoption? A question often requested during financial due diligence for new or existing infrastructure requiring further protection.
About Norman Bird
He’s Senior Technical Lead – Nuclear Security, Assurance and GIS in the Nuclear Security, Safeguards and Non-Proliferation capability of the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). He has is a qualified Civil Engineer with over 33 years nuclear / major projects experience in design / development / construction / protection of major nuclear and other projects / infrastructure (including the Thames Barrier, Sellafield Site Infrastructure Development, early Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) conceptual work, Nuclear site closure / site restoration etc.).
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