Physical protection education was legislated by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in November 2010. KINAC (Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control) was designated as the exclusive institution for physical protection education and training by MEST in October 2011, and it has since functioned as the sole institution responsible for this critical aspect of nuclear security education in the country. Over the past decade, KINAC has undertaken a variety of training initiatives aimed at enhancing the capabilities of nuclear operators’ physical protection personnel. Furthermore, it has consistently pursued annual curriculum revisions based on insights gleaned from surveys and workshops. In conventional curriculum assessments, general surveys often rely on Likert scale or short-answer questions as primary indicators, mainly due to their ease of data processing. Descriptive questions, while capable of capturing diverse opinions, have historically been relegated to a secondary role owing to the inherent challenges associated with data analysis. While physical protection education has made concerted efforts to solicit diverse opinions through descriptive questions, difficulties in organizing and leveraging this valuable data have resulted in it primarily serving as reference material. This study introduces a novel approach by employing ChatGPT, a chatbot, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the descriptive questions from the physical protection education survey administered in the first half of 2023. The primary objective is to formulate a robust plan for curriculum enhancement based on a wide spectrum of opinions. Following the completion of physical protection training by 2,014 individuals in the first half of 2023, a survey was distributed, yielding an impressive response rate of 95.7% with 1,927 respondents. Chatbots were harnessed to extract major keywords and perform frequency analyses on approximately 360 responses to descriptive questions in the survey. The analysis revealed that certain keywords emerged with notable frequency, in the following order: “drone” (mentioned 51 times), “access management” (mentioned 28 times), “inspection and search” (mentioned 27 times), and “cybersecurity” (mentioned 20 times). Further analysis of these major keywords and related content revealed a consensus among trainees that there is a pressing need to incorporate topics addressing drone threats and responses, as well as strategies to fortify access management into the curriculum. This study underscores the potential to harness standardized data analysis techniques to synthesize and integrate trainees’ subjective opinions, thereby providing a solid foundation for the refinement of the curriculum.

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC) conducts various outreach activities, such as publishing brochures and holding seminars and briefings, to make regulated parties aware of the importance and necessity of the export control regime. The outreach program aims to increase compliance rates by generating interest in the export control regime among recipients and to increase communication to support compliance. In order to explore the long-term development of outreach activities, we analyze how KINAC conducts outreach. KINAC conducts nuclear export control outreach to organizations that deal with trigger list items and related technologies. Educational institutions with nuclear energy-related departments, research institutes related to nuclear energy and materials, and industrial companies that handle equipment used in nuclear power plants or nuclear materials were selected for outreach. The outreach program provides information on the export control regime for trigger list items, the strategic technology control regime, and the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. KINAC’s outreach programs can be categorized into education, exhibition, and publication. In the education program, we hold workshops and seminars for industrial companies, with customized content that considers the items handled by companies and the nature of technology transfer. We provide training for educational and research institutions focused on conducting research tasks and projects and transferring technology accordingly. As a result of the education program, there is a regret that the education for SMEs and educational institutions is not directly linked to the implementation of nuclear export control. The exhibition program operated a booth at nuclear-related exhibitions at least once a year. The booth distributed brochures or publications on the export control regime, conducted surveys to investigate awareness of the regime and conducted on-site consultations. The exhibition program effectively increased the understanding of the export control regime among the general public and potential regulated parties. However, it was only sometimes linked to the actual implementation of nuclear export control. The publication program produced promotional materials for use at education and exhibitions, as well as guidance materials on new and revised regulations. It used the agency’s online media to provide information on new and revised export control legislation and related issues. As a result of the publication program, various existing publications explaining the export control regime were consolidated into a single publication, increasing the efficiency and satisfaction of outreach.

ISO 9001:2005 is the international standard for implementing a Quality Management System (QMS), which provides a framework and principles for managing an organization’s quality management. The aim is to ensure that the organization continuously provides products and services that satisfy regulatory requirements. The “process approach” in ISO 9001 is defined as a systematic method of achieving organizational goals by comprehending and managing the interconnected processes as a cohesive system. Recently, KINAC has decided to develop standard processes in the field of R&D and performance management based on the framework of the ISO 9001:2015 quality management system. The objective of this study is to establish standardized processes for conducting research and development, as well as managing the outputs and performance of R&D activities. It involves identifying, designing, implementing, monitoring, and continually improving processes to ensure consistency, efficiency, and effective management of KINAC R&D and its achievements. Firstly, R&D and the research performance management process were defined, and the processes were categorized by function according to the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. Second, the ISO 9001 requirements were compared to the institute’s existing regulations and documents in order to identify any additional processes and procedures needed to meet the quality management requirements. Finally, the lists of quality documentation were determined for the institute’s QMS. As a result, a total of 30 QMS documents were listed, including 1 manual, 12 quality processes and procedures, and 17 quality instructions. The documents can be categorized into four process groups: the management and planning process group, the R&D and achievements management process group, the analysis and improvement process group, and the support process group. All input and output information of each process are connected and interrelated. The implementation of quality management standards and procedures for R&D in KINAC could lead to improved research practices, more reliable data collection and analysis, and increased efficiency in conducting R&D activities. For further study, it is planned to create detailed, high-quality documents that adhere to standard requirements and guidelines.

The KINAC resident inspectors are responsible for conducting on-site regulatory and intergovernmental support tasks related to safeguards, physical protection, and cybersecurity in each NSSC regional office. In nuclear material accounting and control, resident inspectors primarily perform tasks such as national inspections and technical support for IAEA inspections. However, with the increasing cases of non-compliance with the advance notification procedure by operators, there is a growing need for improvement in the role of resident inspectors in on-site regulation. In response to this situation, the safeguards division in KINAC has analyzed and improved the on-site check procedures of resident inspectors at LWR facilities. The existing procedure outlines the process where resident inspectors receive the advance notification documents submitted by operators and utilize them as a reference for conducting weekly checks during the overhaul period when IAEA surveillance cameras are installed. Additionally, according to the attached forms specified in the procedure, resident inspectors are required to submit the check results report to the director of the safeguards division in KINAC every week and to the NSSC every month. The inspection items include checking the execution and changes of advance notification, verifying unnotified matters, discussing other issues, assessing the integrity of things such as the operational status of IAEA surveillance equipment, and so on. On April 13-14, 2023, the Safeguards division organized a two-day resident inspector’s work-sharing workshop to discuss improvements in the on-site check procedures of resident inspectors at LWR facilities. During the workshop, a comparison and analysis were conducted between the existing procedures and actual on-site activities. Unnecessary tasks such as advance notification document reception and monthly reporting were eliminated, and the focus was shifted towards emphasizing essential tasks. The opinions of resident inspectors were taken into account to derive directions for improvement. The existing procedure was applicable only during Overhaul periods for resident inspectors. It has been improved by removing this limitation, allowing its use during routine times. Furthermore, the procedure has been enhanced by clarifying its purpose, scope, users, and definitions of terms and specifying responsibilities and authorities. Unnecessary terminology has been eliminated. Remarkably, the definition of advance notification has been detailed, and the reporting of check results has been simplified through weekly task reporting. The Safeguards division in KINAC has strived to enhance the efficiency and simplification of on-site regulatory activities for resident inspectors at LWR facilities by improving their on-site check procedures. These improvement activities are expected to aid resident inspectors in effectively performing a wide range of tasks, including safeguards, physical protection, cybersecurity, and government support. In the future, it will be possible to continue refining the on-site check procedures by sharing the results of using the procedure in meetings and gathering various opinions from resident inspectors.

KINAC began dispatching the resident inspector in 2012 to strengthen on-site Wolsong nuclear power plants (NPPs) regulations. The dispatched resident inspector is a member of the regional office of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) and is in charge of technical support, on-site regulation of safeguards, and physical protection for the Wolsong regional office of NSSC. As the number of nuclear facilities in the ROK increased, the resident inspectors began to be dispatched to other regional offices. The resident inspectors were assigned to Hanul in November 2015, Kori in March 2017, Hanbit in March 2015, Saeul in March 2022, and Wolsong in March 2023. Accordingly, this paper intends to reflect on the increasing role of resident inspectors and predict on-site regulatory work in the field of nuclear control. The role of the resident inspectors is described in detail in the internal regulations of KINAC. Among the tasks in the common field is technical support at regional offices for the most critical areas of nuclear control implementation, and on-site verification of the matters requested by the director of each implementation division shall be carried out. Tasks in the field of safeguards include an on-site check of facility regulation review, implementation of national inspections, technical support for IAEA inspections, and information management. Among them, technical support work for Unannounced inspections should be the top priority. These days, in particular, the importance of reviewing the results of checking advanced information and containment and surveillance equipment by facility operators is emerging. Among the tasks performed by the resident inspectors, more than 80% of the functions related to physical protection account for. The resident inspectors check the status of the physical protection system by weekly/monthly/quarter, implement physical protection regulation review and inspection, conduct exercise evaluation, and perform technical support for special assessments. Recently, regulatory activities related to radioactive terrorism and the emergence of illegal drones have been strengthened. In the field of cybersecurity, where its role has recently been increasing, the resident inspectors are performing basic field regulation tasks. Similar to the area of physical protection, the resident inspectors check the cybersecurity system for weekly, monthly, and quarterly readiness, and on-site inspections of cybersecurity review and inspection technical support, exercise evaluation, and other requests are mainly performed. The role of the resident inspectors is expected to expand further in the future due to the increase in terrorist risks at home and abroad and changes in the regulatory environment. However, there is a limit to performing an increasing number of tasks, with the human resources of the resident inspectors limited to one to two for each site. If the resident inspectors are dispatched for each field of safety measures, physical protection, and cybersecurity, they can perform their duties more efficiently, but problems may arise in the operation of our personnel. Therefore, the proper and precise allocation of work while maintaining the current system is an essential part. The roles and prospects of the resident inspectors analyzed in this paper can be used to deploy the headquarters and field regulation personnel and set the direction of work in the future.

Since the National Research and Development Innovation Act. was enacted, evaluation and management of research outputs become more important. The research output is defined as all types of information resources produced from the scientific research activities in each research phase, such as learning, proposing, performing, and publishing. Among them, research outputs mainly from the publishing phase have been systematically managed, including articles, books, technical reports, patents, and software. KINAC, like other Korean R&D institutions, has also achieved growth in research outputs, through continuously increased investment in R&D projects. However, R&D productivity, technology transfer, and commercialization remain low level. The importance of R&D performance diffusion has been emphasized. It’s because the creation of economic value through the utilization of research results has been emerging as a key issue in R&D policy. Therefore, various policies are being nationally pursued to promote the utilization of research achievements, but the results are not being effectively utilized and disseminated. In the field of nuclear nonproliferation and security, it is also difficult to diffuse the R&D performance. In this study, the research outputs of KINAC from 2010 to 2021 were analyzed. A number of research outputs have been made and managed, but the R&D performances have not been analyzed and identified yet. In addition, supportive methods were suggested for efficient performance management toward diffusion. For this purpose, some policies of Korea and other countries concerning performance diffusion -related policies were reviewed. The best practices of performance management and applications were also reviewed and compared to the KINAC cases. As a result, the number of research output has dramatically increased during the last 10 years, showing an average annual total output of 84 and year-on-year increase of 18%. The biggest change was in the conference papers and journals, whereas, there were no trends by year in the case of the technical reports and patents. Of course, it was proportional to the size of the organization, the number of research projects, and its budget. Because many studies highlight the importance of institutional resources, capabilities, and processes for performance management as factors affecting efficient diffusion, the current status of our process was also identified. This study is expected to be applied to the improvement of the performance management of the institute, leading to the enhancement of the R&D performance application.