The security of commercial nuclear power plants and fuel facilities overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is strong based upon force-on-force exercises and related reviews by the agency during 2022, according to a report to Congress.
Thanks to the decline in COVID-19 infections among the workforce, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staged more force-on-force exercises in 2022 than in either of the prior two calendar years, according to an unclassified version of the report to Congress that is now available to the public.
The force-on-force events basically simulate attacks on nuclear sites and test on-site security crews ability to repel armed outside intruders and defend the facility, the NRC said in a Thursday press release.
A copy of the 19-page unclassified NRC security report is available here.
In the 2022 calendar year, NRC carried out 193 security inspections at operating commercial nuclear power plants and category 1 fuel-cycle facilities.
In 2002, NRC had regulatory authority of safeguards and security programs for 93 power reactors at 58 different sites in 29 states, according to the report.
Of the 126 security findings issued at nuclear reactors by NRC during 2022 all but a handful were rated at the lowest security significance. There were six violations cited that while not deemed serious, “are of more-than-minor concern, that resulted in no or relatively inappreciable potential safety or security consequences.”
Two category 1 facilities, BWX Technologies in Lynchburg, Va., as well as Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tenn., handled special nuclear material that must be protected against radiological sabotage as well as theft, according to the report. Both plants downblend highly-enriched uranium into low-enriched uranium for use in commercial nuclear power reactors, NRC said.
A dozen security inspections at the two facilities last year turned up 14 violations and 12 of the 14 violations were at the lowest severity level, NRC said.
In 2023, NRC will strive for “increasing realism” in force-on-force exercises, according to the report.
As a sign of the times, NRC also has a new cybersecurity inspection procedure that seeks to protect digital computer systems and networks affecting safety, security, and emergency preparedness functions, according to the report.
