The IAEA states that in the event of sabotage, nuclear material and equipment in quantities that can cause high radiological consequences (HRC), as well as the minimum systems and devices necessary to prevent HRC, must be located within one or more vital areas. Accordingly, in Article 2 of the ACT ON PHYSICAL PROTECTION AND RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY, the definition of the vital area is specified, and a nuclear facility operator submits a draft to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission to establish vital areas and must obtain approval from Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. Since the spent fuel pool and new fuel storage area are areas where nuclear material is used and stored, they can be candidates for vital areas as direct targets of sabotage. The spent fuel pool is a wet spent fuel storage facility currently operated by most power plants in Korea to cool and store spent nuclear fuel. Considering the HRC against sabotage, it is necessary to review whether sepnt fuel pool needs to establish a vital area. In addition, depending on the status of plant operation during the spent fuel management cycle, the operation status of safety systems to mitigate accidents and power system change, so vital areas in fuel handling building (including spent fuel pool) also need to be adjusted flexibly. This study compares the results of the review on whether the essential consideration factors are reflected in the identification of essential safety systems and devices to minimize HRC caused by sabotage in the spent fuel storage system with the procedure for identifying the vital area in nuclear power plants. It was reviewed from the following viewpoints: Necessity to identify necessary devices to minimize the radiation effects against sabotage on the spent fuel pool, Review of necessary elements when identifying vital areas to minimize the radiation effects of spent fuel pool against sabotage, Necessity to adjust vital areas according to the spent fuel management cycle. The main assumptions used in the analysis of the vital area of the power plant need to be equally reflected when identifying vital areas in spent fuel pool. And, the results of this study are for the purpose of minimizing the radiological consequences against sabotage on the spent fuel storage system including the spent fuel pool and used to establish regulatory standards in the spent fuel storage stage.

• Minho Kang(Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC)) Corresponding author
• Sundo Choi(Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC))