Nuclear Security System Design

Catalog description

Science and engineering associated with the design, evaluation, and implementation of systems to secure nuclear and radiological materials. NUC E 442 Nuclear Security System Design (3) The primary goal of this course is to educate the student to think with a security perspective such that they can design and evaluate systems to deter, detect, interdict, and respond to threats to the security of nuclear and radiological materials. After completing this course, the student should be able to: -Analyze motivations and capabilities of adversaries (terrorists, criminal groups, protesters, etc.) and be able to characterize a Design Basis Threat (DBT) that can be used to perform a threat-informed security evaluation. -Describe and explain the operation of detection, delay, and response technologies. Understand how to complete a performance evaluation of these technologies. -Evaluate insider threats to nuclear and radiological facilities and incorporate the insider threat in a DBT. -Formulate different response strategies (including deterrence, denial, containment, pursuit, and recapture) for different facilities and considering on-site and/or off-site response. -Use nuclear or radiological material facility characteristics and a DBT to design a performance-based security system for a facility that will be threat-informed, provide defense in depth, and achieve balanced protection while minimizing risk to an acceptable level. -Apply engineering principles to produce a cost benefit analysis for upgrade options for an existing nuclear facility. -Understand the unique security characteristics associated with transportation of nuclear materials, smuggling of nuclear materials, and protection of major public events and be able to apply a risk- and performance-based engineering approach to security systems for these scenarios. -Understand nuclear forensics as a component of a nuclear security system and be able to use nuclear forensics interpretation of measured data to predict infer actor involvement in a nuclear security incident. -Discuss and critique the deterrence characteristics of nuclear security systems.