Physical Protection of Nuclear Installations and Nuclear Materials

Physical Protection of Nuclear Installations and Nuclear Materials

Physical protection consists of a set of technical, regime or organizational measures necessary to prevent and stop unauthorized activities with the nuclear installation, nuclear materials, special nuclear materials and equipment, in handling radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, during transport of radioactive materials, as well as intrusion into nuclear installation and committing a sabotage.

Commitments of SR in the field of physical protection of nuclear material stem from the accession to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which was signed by the Government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic on 8 February 1987. The Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material was adopted in Vienna on 8 July 2005. The National Council of the Slovak Republic approved the amendment by Resolution No. 522 of 19 September 2007 and the President of the Slovak Republic ratified the amendment on 19 October 2007. The instrument of ratification was deposited on 7 march with the Depositary, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. The amendment to the Convention entered into force on 8 May 2016.

The amendment better reflects the current security situation in the world and is closely linked to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which was adopted on 15 April 2005 by the UN General Assembly, Resolution No. 59/290 and which the Slovak Republic, as the first state in the world, ratified on March 23, 2006.

Requirements for the physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear installation for Slovakia are defined in the Atomic Act, in the ÚJD SR Decree No. 51/2006 laying down details of the requirements to ensure the physical protection and requirements for physical protection during transports of radioactive materials in the ÚJD SR Decree No. 57/2007 laying down the details of the requirements during transports of radioactive materials and in the ÚJD SR Decree No. 105/2016, Amending the Decree of ÚJD SR No. 57/2006.

Regulatory activity in this field ÚJD SR concentrated on the control of physical protections at the nuclear installations, nuclear material and ensuring physical protection during transports of nuclear material and radioactive waste.