IAEA INPRO Guidance on Proliferation Resistance Key Concepts for New Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles

with Brian Boyer,
Consultant with LucidCatalyst, former IAEA INPRO Section Head

March 15, 2024, 10:10 am, room 6-051,
VTRC, Arlington 

For remote access, please register here.

This talk introduces the IAEA and its International Project on nuclear reactors and fuel cycles (INPRO) and a key project over the last few years. INPRO endeavored to update its Nuclear Energy System Assessment task’s set of manuals. It was a big effort creating a definitive description of proliferation resistance for use by Member States assessing reactors and fuel cycles. INPRO developed and updated the key concepts of a system’s intrinsic features of proliferation resistance and the application of extrinsic measures to stem proliferation. The new manual was an international global effort of experts in proliferation resistance, physical protection and safeguards from key Member States and the GEN IV Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection Working Group. The resulting manual and the conclusions given here came from a consensus of the experts and includes valuable insights to material attractiveness and safeguards.

Brian Boyer was the Section Head of the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) in the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Energy (2019-2023). He was a safeguards analyst in the IAEA Dept. of Safeguards from 2015-2019. Previously he was a safeguards expert at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2006-2015) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (2002-2004). He also has experience in design and operations of marine SMRs working at GE Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (1980-1983) working on reactor physics on naval reactor cores. In INPRO Boyer focused on the goal of building cooperation and providing knowledge and technical expertise globally to build sustainable nuclear power for the 21st Century and in safeguards he worked to make safeguards more efficient and effective using quantifiable technical analysis. He has experience in nuclear reactor design, nuclear reactor safety, safeguards and security (3S), and gained cross-cutting experience at the IAEA dealing with legal and policy implications, infrastructure, Safeguards by Design (SBD) and 3S – Safety, Security and Safeguards - building relationships with vendors and member states in nuclear power. At present he has started to consult with LucidCatalyst working on Floating Nuclear Power Plant deployment possibilities and how to handle the challenges in safeguards, security safety and the difficulties in legal and regulatory issues.