A Study on the Application of Technical Assessment Methodology (TAM) for CyberSecurity in Nuclear Power Plant

Recently 1, cyber attacks targeting Industrial Control Systems (ICS) have been increasing rapidly; accordingly, cyber security applications and security evaluations of ICS are becoming very important. Technical Assessment Methodology (TAM) is a method developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the United States for assessing and applying security control methods for power plants. By applying TAM, limitations of cyber security application and security evaluation of existing nuclear facilities are able to address. In this study, a virtual test bed was composed for one of the safety systems of APR1400, and the TAM was applied and analyzed to derive two advantages and five features of TAM. Based on this, the rationale for using TAM for the application and assessment of security control methods in nuclear facilities was explained, including five considerations for the better application of TAM. Finally, we propose future work for applying TAM.