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Sandia National Laboratories outlines safeguards, material accounting and cybersecurity focus for advanced reactors
Summary
A Sandia National Laboratories representative described work to embed safeguards, material-accounting measurements, physical-protection modeling and cybersecurity standards into advanced small and microreactor designs, saying these tools can raise the probability of detecting material loss and strengthen resilience against sabotage and cyberattacks.
A Sandia National Laboratories representative outlined the laboratory's Safeguards, Security and Safety Program and said it is developing tools to build measurement, monitoring and protection into next-generation small and advanced reactors.
The presenter said the U.S. nuclear industry is developing small and advanced reactor designs that utilize the latest innovations in reactor safety and that "economically competitive nuclear power provides a significant opportunity to reduce emissions." The Sandia representative described program work to optimize plant monitoring systems and to apply "safeguards, security, and safety by design" principles so vendors can incorporate measurement and monitoring technologies during the design phase.
Why it matters: Embedding safeguards and robust material accounting at the design stage can make future reactors both safer and more difficult to exploit, the presenter said, and the approach aims to reduce risks while supporting nuclear power's role in emissions reduction.
Sandia described several technical lines of work. The presenter said the laboratory uses modeling and simulation tools, including path analysis and force-adversary modeling, to design and analyze physical protection systems and determine performance metrics against a range of attack scenarios. "We use Sandia-developed path analysis tools and focus on force adversary modeling to design and analyze a physical protection system," the representative said.
On material control and accounting, the presenter said Sandia's modeling tools help determine proper designs of accounting systems and that future facilities will include state-of-the-art measurement technologies that can be used to "demonstrate a high probability of detecting material loss." The presenter listed Sandia's experience in physical security, severe accident modeling, materials accountancy, international safeguards and cyber security as supporting this work.
The presenter also warned that new nuclear control systems will rely more heavily on digital technology than current large reactors, increasing vulnerability to cyberattacks. "The protection of these digital assets is important as cyberattacks continue to increase in frequency and sophistication across many industries," the Sandia representative said, and the laboratory is working on new standards and technologies to secure future control systems.
The presentation framed Sandia's efforts as part of the national laboratory system's broader role in maintaining U.S. leadership in nuclear safeguards and safety culture. The presenter concluded that nuclear energy is key to future energy security and that Sandia will continue to supply technical leadership to advanced, safe, secure nuclear energy both domestically and internationally.
The presentation did not include specific budget figures, timelines for deployment, or names of commercial reactor projects that will adopt the tools; those details were not specified.
