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NUCLEAR & SMR – 01

Nuclear Security

Physical security, procedural security, and electronic security do not operate in isolation at an operating nuclear facility. They should not be assessed that way either. GSS evaluates all three together, against the Design Basis Threat.

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OPERATIONAL CONTEXT

Security that is only as strong as its weakest layer

Most protective strategies are not built badly. They are built in pieces. One vendor sizes the fence line and delay barriers. Another specifies cameras and intrusion sensors. A separate team writes the response procedures and staffs the complement. Each piece can pass its own review and the system can still fail, because the gaps that matter most sit at the seams between disciplines, not inside any one of them. GSS was founded in 2012 on the premise that nuclear security has to be delivered holistically rather than as a set of isolated services, and that is still the operating model.

Our assessments start from the Design Basis Threat, not from a facility's existing equipment list. Physical measures (barriers, hardening, standoff, delay) are evaluated against what the DBT actually grants an adversary in tools, numbers, and capability. Electronic measures (sensors, assessment, communications, systems integration) are evaluated under real operating conditions, not vendor specification sheets. Procedural measures (protective strategy, response, complement) are evaluated against the timeline the other two layers actually produce, not the timeline someone assumed when the plan was written.

The team doing this work includes former U.S. special operations operators, engineers, and executives who have run security organizations at the C-level, alongside a cyber-physical practice led by former U.S. NRC inspectors with direct experience developing federal cybersecurity requirements. That mix of operational, engineering, and regulatory experience in the same room is what lets an assessment speak to how a facility actually defends itself, not just how its documentation says it does.

METHODOLOGY
  1. 01

    Threat Basis Review

    The applicable Design Basis Threat is established before any layer of the site is assessed against it.

  2. 02

    Layered Assessment

    Physical, electronic, and procedural security evaluated together, from the controlled area boundary inward.

  3. 03

    Pathway & Vital Area Analysis

    Adversary routes and vital areas identified and cross-checked against target sets.

  4. 04

    Protective Strategy Development

    Response, complement, and procedures sized to the delay and detection the site actually provides.

  5. 05

    Documentation & Regulatory Alignment

    Findings translated into licensing-basis documentation a regulator can review.

  6. 06

    Sustainment

    Periodic reassessment as the threat basis, the facility, or the regulatory posture changes.

CORE CAPABILITIES
Design Basis Threat-based assessmentPhysical, procedural & electronic security integrationVital area & target set analysisProtective strategy developmentLicensing-basis documentation supportRegulatory engagement
RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS
Operating nuclear power plantsSmall modular reactorsFuel cycle & research facilitiesOther high-consequence critical infrastructure
FAQ
Is this the same as a physical security assessment?It includes one, but the scope is wider. Physical, procedural, and electronic security are assessed as a single system, not three separate deliverables.
Do you work from a facility's existing DBT or help establish one?Both. Where a Design Basis Threat is already defined by the applicable regulator, we assess against it; where it needs to be interpreted for a specific site or design, we support that work directly.
How is this different from a generic industrial security review?Nuclear security is threat-informed rather than risk-generic. Every recommendation is sized against a defined adversary capability, not a general best-practice checklist.

Get a security posture assessed against the threat it actually faces

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