Lead Fast Reactors - Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection White Paper - 2021

This document represents the status of Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection (PR&PP) characteristics for the Lead Fast Reactor reference designs selected by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) provisional System Steering Committee (pSSC). The intent is to generate preliminary information about the PR&PP merits of the LFR reactor technology and to provide insights for optimizing their PR&PP performance for the benefit of LFR system designers. It updates the LFR analysis published in the 2011 report “Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection of the Six Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems”, prepared Jointly by the Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection Working Group (PRPPWG) and the System Steering Committees of the Generation IV International Forum, taking into account the evolution of both the systems and the GIF R&D activities since its publication.
The document, prepared jointly by the GIF PRPPWG and the GIF LFR pSSC, follows the high-level paradigm of the GIF Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection Evaluation Methodology to investigate the PR&PP features of the GIF LFR reference designs. For PR, the document analyses and discusses the proliferation resistance aspects in terms of robustness against State-based threats associated with diversion of materials, misuse of facilities, breakout scenarios, and production in clandestine facilities. Similarly, for PP, the document discusses the robustness against theft of material and sabotage by non-State actors.