The Impact of Implementing the Design Basis Threat Concept on the Regulatory Infrastructure of the Brazilian Nuclear Sector: Analysis and Perspectives

Resumen

Fundamental Principle G of the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, ratified by Brazil in 2022, guided the conceptual development of the Design Basis Threat (DBT) and justified the proposal for its implementation in the Brazilian nuclear regulatory framework. The first step in the implementation process, coordinated by the Directorate for Safety, Security, and Safeguard of the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission, is the regulatory impact analysis, a qualitative analysis based on reviewing international and national documents and institutional procedures. In addition to the regulatory impact analysis, an action plan and proposals for the creation of new documents were structured. It was concluded that the DBT concept implementation would allow the transition of the regulatory approach, the optimization, and expansion of the protection of selected critical facilities, the centralization of the definition of threats by the State, ensuring strategic coherence and reducing operational gaps previously associated with fragmented responsibility; and the creation of new documents such as the National Threat Report, resulting from the interaction between the public security sector, the regulator and operators.