More than 40 nuclear site operators, regulators and policy makers from 28 countries gathered recently at Sandia for a deep dive into physical protection systems for nuclear facilities and materials.

This year’s International Training Course on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Facilities, or ITC, marked the 30th session of the class, which has seen more than 1,000 participants from 70 countries.

Sandia developed the course for the International Atomic Energy Agency and the NNSA Office of International Nuclear Security in 1978. Globally, ITC is considered the flagship course on physical protection for nuclear facilities and materials.

Sondra Spence, manager of Sandia’s Nuclear Security Engineering department, directs the course and is one of 20 experts from across the Labs who taught during the two-week course in May.

“Sandia is home to world-class experts across every physical security discipline,” she said. “The depth of our team and our ability to use Sandia’s unique facilities for hands-on exercises make this course a standout.”

Course evolution

Greg Baum, manager of Sandia’s Global Security Training, Testing and Evaluation department and one of the previous course directors, worked with Sondra to update the course about 10 years ago.

“Before the revamp, most of the learning was done in the classroom,” he said. “We decided to incorporate more field training that could help bring theory to life.”

The Integrated Security Facility at Sandia’s Nuclear Security Technology Complex provides a realistic venue that mimics most of the facilities in the nuclear fuel cycle. It also has the necessary infrastructure to demonstrate physical security systems and their applications.

“When we take participants into the Integrated Security Facility and put them in operational environments, they get a better understanding of how all of the different technologies are integrated into one system and how that system should be applied and evaluated,” Greg said.

And it’s not just operators who benefit from field exercises.

“We’ve had participants who work at regulatory bodies who have never stepped into a nuclear facility. The mock environments give them a much better understanding and awareness of what security implementation looks like, and that helps them do their jobs more effectively,” Sondra said.

The hands-on component is not the only change to the class in its almost 50-year history. Moving beyond traditional, large-scale nuclear power plants and research reactors, the course now includes discussion on physical security for multiple types of advanced and small module reactors. Other recently included course modules include cybersecurity and evolving threats.

“During the second week of ITC, we introduce participants to Sandia-developed software modeling tools so they can build virtual models of their sites for realistic tabletop exercises and assessments,” Sondra said. “Our goal is for ITC — and Sandia — to continue to be at the forefront of security system design and assessment technologies.”

Confidence and consistency

The primary goals of ITC are to ensure the security of nuclear materials and facilities and to build a community of practice that adheres to international security standards.

“If nuclear materials are mishandled, there are obvious risks to the environment and the public. That’s why there are strict safety and security protocols,” Sondra said. “It’s important that sites have a common understanding of how to validate and understand the performance of their physical security systems.”

The course teaches a systems engineering approach to physical security, which relies on an iterative process to define, design and evaluate physical protection systems.

“The nuclear generation landscape is evolving, including with small modular reactors. Our goal is to understand how this evolution affects security needs and requirements,” Sondra said. “We want ITC to provide our international partners with a systems-based approach to physical security that can be applied to current and future sites.”

Moving forward

Sondra’s team looks forward to hosting more participants to support global nuclear security.

“The ITC is genuinely one of my favorite projects, because we have the opportunity to meet and work with a broad cross-section of people from around the world and make a measurable impact on nuclear security globally.”