Lok Sabha Question No. 543 (STARRED), answered on 2017-04-12
Subject: Attack on Nuclear Facilities
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: NANABHAU FALGUNRAO PATOLE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 543

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.04.2017

## ATTACK ON NUCLEAR FACILITIES

## *543. SHRI NANA PATOLE:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the USbased  non-profit  group  Nuclear  Threat  Initiative  (NTI)  have  alerted  the  world community of a possible threat of cyber and terrorist attack on the nuclear facilities;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) the measures taken by the Government to check the disastrous radioactive radiation in the event of attack on all or any of the nuclear facilities located in the country; and
- (d) the  funds  allocated/released/spent  in  this  regard  along  with  the  salient  features  of cyber security policy, if any, laid down by the Government with regard to the security of the said nuclear facilities?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a) to (d) A Statement is placed on the Table of the House.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*543 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 12.04.2017 BY SHRI NANA PATOLE REGARDING 'ATTACK ON NUCLEAR FACILITIES'

- (a)&(b) Yes, Madam. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed concern in general terms about possibility of cyber and terrorist threats to nuclear installations globally,  without  indicating  any  specific  details.  Government  takes  these  concerns seriously and remains alert and prepared to deal with such threats.
- (c) All  nuclear  installations in India are designed and operated following a defence in depth philosophy. Inherently safe and highly reliable designs are supplemented with control  and  protection  features  to  detect  any  deviation  in  plant  safety  parameters and restore the same to normal plant state. In case of any event, these features will ensure safe shutdown of reactor and mitigating the radiological consequences with containment as the final barrier to contain the radioactivity. In case of highly unlikely events leading to release of radioactivity, Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) plans are in place to protect the public. Trained Emergency Response Teams are available with Department of Atomic Energy's 23 Emergency Response Centres and the trained  National  Disaster  Response  Force  teams  will  be  able  to  help  the authorities in the implementation of counter-measures and protection to people.
- (d) Safety  and  Security  are  an  integral  part  of  all  nuclear  installations  in  the  country. Required funds for this purpose are included in the overall scope of the project.

All  the  units  of  DAE  have Information Security Policy/Cyber Security Policy based on ISO 27000 standards. The salient features of policy are -

Critical infrastructure of DAE is subjected to strict security requirements. All critical systems of Indian nuclear establishment's plant control systems/electronic systems are  designed  and  developed  in-house  using  custom  built  hardware  and  software which are subjected to regulatory verification and validation, thereby making them immune to cyber security threats. Critical infrastructure of Indian nuclear establishment is isolated from Internet and access to such systems is restricted to authorized personnel and closely monitored.

Department of Atomic Energy has specialist groups like Computer and Information Security  Advisory  Group  (CISAG)  and  Task  force  for  Instrumentation  and  Control Security  (TAFICS)  to  look  after  cyber  security/information  security  of  DAE  units including regular cyber security audit.

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