04/01/2026
By Danielle Fretwell

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Energy Engineering - Nuclear, invites you to attend a Master's Thesis defense by Christopher Folan on: "The Development of the IAEA Inspection Planning Tool."

Candidate Name: Christopher Folan
Degree: Master’s
Defense Date: Thursday, April 9, 2026
Time: 1 - 2 p.m.
Location: Pinanski 310

Committee:

  • Advisor: Sukesh Aghara, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, Department of Chemical (Nuclear) Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Mark Tries, Ph.D., Coordinator - Radiological Sciences, Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Lohith Annadevula, Ph.D., Research Staff, Nuclear Science and Security Department, Brookhaven National Lab, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Steven P. Snay, Ph.D., Director of Radiation Safety, Adjunct Faculty, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) implements inspection measures to prevent the diversion of nuclear material from peaceful purposes. Inspection effectiveness is measured by detection probability (DP), which is the likelihood of detecting material diversion. This thesis presents a pre-inspection planning tool that assists the IAEA in developing optimal inspection sampling plans that achieve a target DP criteria, within available resource constraints. The tool discussed here minimizes total inspection time or cost while ensuring that a user-defined target DP is achieved across multiple diversion strategies within a selected facility stratum. The core of the inspection planning tool is a dynamic programming approach that efficiently explores possible sampling plans in brute force sub-stages by minimizing a resource function at each stage and generates optimized sampling plans while reducing computational time. DP is calculated for multiple diversion strategies, and the tool identifies the worst-case minimum DP and its associated diversion strategy. This thesis establishes a validated and scalable framework for pre-inspection planning that can support the IAEA's safeguards mission through improved resource management and strategic planning.