Development, use and maintenance of the design basis threat. Implementing guide

In response to a resolution by the IAEA General Conference in September 2002, the IAEA adopted an integrated approach to protection against nuclear terrorism. This approach coordinates IAEA activities concerned with physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear installations, nuclear material accountancy, detection of and response to trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive material, the security of radioactive sources, security in the transport of nuclear and other radioactive material, emergency response and emergency preparedness in Member States and at the IAEA, and promotion of adherence by States to relevant international instruments. The IAEA also helps to identify threats and vulnerability related to the security of nuclear and other radioactive material. However, it is the responsibility of the States to provide for the physical protection of nuclear and other radioactive material and associated facilities, to ensure the security of such material in transport, and to combat illicit trafficking and the inadvertent movement of radioactive material. Physical protection systems are intended to prevent unacceptable consequences arising from malicious activities. The more serious the consequences, the more important it is to have a high degree of confidence that physical protection will be effective as planned. The need for a high level of confidence in the effectiveness of physical protection has long been recognized by those concerned about nuclear material and nuclear facilities. Nuclear material and facilities have the potential for a variety of unacceptable radiological and proliferation consequences if subjected to a malicious act. The highest level of confidence in physical protection demands a close correlation between protective measures and the threat. This approach is firmly grounded in the fundamental principle that physical protection of nuclear assets under the jurisdiction of a State should be based on the State's evaluation of the threat to those assets. As described in this publication, an understanding of the threat can lead to a detailed description of potential adversaries (the design basis threat), which, in turn, is the basis of an appropriately designed physical protection system. This direct link gives confidence that protection would be effective against an adversary attack. International experience in using a design basis threat to protect assets of high consequence is largely based on the protection of nuclear material and facilities. Furthermore, the nuclear security documents defining and recommending that physical protection be based upon the threat - The Physical Protection Objectives and Fundamental Principles (GOV/2001/41/ Attachment), the Recommendations on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Nuclear Material (INFCIRC/225/Rev. 4 (corrected)), and the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Nuclear Material as Amended (INFCIRC/274) (adopted on 8 July 2005; (GOV/2005/57)) - do so exclusively for the protection of nuclear material and facilities. Given the historical background, and its continuing contemporary relevance, it has been necessary to draw on that nuclear protection experience in developing this publication. However, the general approach can also be applied to protecting other assets that require a high degree of confidence in the effectiveness of their protection, such as high-activity radioactive material. Specialists from France, Germany, Japan, the Russian Federation, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America assisted the IAEA in preparing this publication. A draft was presented to an open-ended technical meeting in December 2006, and subsequently circulated for comment to all Member States. This publication is consistent with The Physical Protection Objectives and Fundamental Principles; the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Nuclear Material as Amended; and the Recommendations on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Nuclear Material.