NRI Annual Review 2026 - Flipbook - Page 23
How protection is changing
Historically, safety and security were often
treated differently by insurers in the nuclear
sector. Recent developments in technology
and demand means that the sector is
increasingly moving towards a blended view
of these risks.
To address these changing risk profiles,
NRI has continued to expand its specialist
offering through products such as CyNuC
and our innovative 30-year liability solution.
The changing risk profile in the nuclear
sector is best demonstrated by the
commercial emergence of SMRs and
AMRs. The inherent passive safety and
lower pressure of these designs means that
smaller protection zones are required. This
has necessitated a shift in industry thinking,
where physical protection, operational
resilience and cybersecurity can be
considered together.
At the same time, the increasing
digitalisation of nuclear operations is
creating new challenges. Operators are
modernising systems to improve efficiency,
automation and operational performance,
bringing obvious benefits, but also increasing
exposure to more cyber threats of increasing
sophistication.
Unlike conventional IT attacks, cyber threats
affecting operational technology within
nuclear facilities can directly disrupt the
systems used to monitor and control the
plant. While many cyber incidents result
in financial or reputational damage, cyber
threats to the nuclear sector risk impacting
critical infrastructure.
AI is also accelerating the speed and
sophistication of cyber threats, enabling
malicious actors to identify vulnerabilities
and automated intrusion attempts far more
effectively than ever before.
Alongside external cyber threats, the insider
threat remains one of the most significant
challenges facing the nuclear sector.
Individuals with legitimate access to facilities,
systems or sensitive information have always
represented a unique security risk, but AI
has the potential to amplify that threat by
accelerating reconnaissance, automating
malicious activity and lowering the technical
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