Channel 3
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 3:30 PM (30 Minutes)
DOE’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Program is designed to protect the worker, the public, the environment, and national security from natural, technological, or human-caused (unintentional or intentional malevolent human act) incidents. The role of DOE’s Design Basis Threat (DBT) policy, DOE Order 470.3C, is to establish protection levels and requirements to reduce the risk from intentional human acts.
The 2016 DBT introduced unacceptable thresholds for intentional human acts of radiological or chemical sabotage and associated protection levels. This required coordination between emergency management personnel and safeguards and security personnel to evaluate the consequences of sabotage scenarios defined in the DBT. The 2020 DBT introduced the concept of “overall security risk” where pre- and post-incident safety-based and emergency management planning and mitigation measures are evaluated to prevent malevolent acts. These measures include incident response, mission recovery, and traditional physical protection measures. Prevention of all potential malevolent acts is not practical or possible, therefore overall security risk provides decision makers with information necessary to implement a reasonable and balanced level of physical protection to effectively manage security risk.
The emergency management community recognized that a closer working relationship between emergency management planners and security analysts was needed, so a Design Basis Threat Working Group (DBTWG) was formed in the STARS subcommittee within EMI SIG. The mission of the DBTWG is to support compliance with the DBT by sharing processes, information, ideas, lessons learned, and to support development of guidance or directives to ensure consistency across the Department. This has resulted in improvements in DOE policy defined in DOE Order 151.1 and DOE Order 470.3C and more consistent implementation of the requirements.
The overarching goal of both Emergency Management and Safeguards and Security is to protect the worker, the public, the environment, and national security. The main lesson learned is that collaboration between the two disciplines through the DBTWG has resulted in improved policy, greater understanding of policy, and more consistent implementation of requirements. Strengthening and sustaining these efforts is necessary for the Department to continue effectively protecting the worker, the public, the environment, and national security.