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New Build & Construction

Critical Asset Protection:
Design & Construction

Security built into a facility from the first drawing, not bolted on after the concrete is poured.

Once a perimeter is poured, a vital area is walled in, or a control room's cable routing is finalised, the cost — and difficulty — of correcting a security gap rises sharply. Security by Design (SeBD) exists to prevent that: embedding physical protection into a facility's planning and engineering from the earliest stages, rather than retrofitting it once construction is complete.

GTS supports owners, developers, and national authorities through exactly this process — for new nuclear power programs, nuclear weapons program facilities, and critical infrastructure builds more broadly, including energy, utilities, and transportation assets.

Regulatory frameworks reflect this reality directly. In the United States, 10 CFR 73.55 requires that a nuclear power reactor's physical protection program be fully implemented before fuel is allowed onsite — meaning the detection, delay, and response capability all need to exist and be tested before that construction milestone, not after.

Fix It on Paper — Not After the Ribbon-Cutting

Security by Design

Physical protection embedded into planning from the earliest design stage, not retrofitted after construction.

Before Fuel Is Onsite

US regulation requires the protection program operational years before a plant reaches that construction milestone.

Safety/Security Interface

Resolving conflicts between protective measures and safety requirements while they're still just drawings.

Beyond Nuclear

The same discipline applies to critical infrastructure new-builds broadly: energy, utilities, and transportation.

Why Timing Matters

Cheapest On Paper.
Most Expensive Built.

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Years of Combined Experience
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International Programs

What We Deliver

From Siting
to Commissioning

GTS advisors join new-build programs as early as the client's own planning allows — ideally at conceptual design — and work alongside architects, structural engineers, and safety teams rather than reviewing their work after the fact.

Where a program is already under construction and security wasn't fully considered at design stage, GTS also supports remediation: identifying which gaps can still be addressed cost-effectively before completion, and which will require compensatory procedures once operational.

Core Deliverables
Design Basis Threat development. Establishing the threat basis a facility's design must accommodate before engineering is finalised.
Stage-by-stage security review. From siting and conceptual design through construction and pre-commissioning.
Security/safety interface coordination. Resolving conflicts before they're built into the facility.
Construction-phase program development. Building the protection program and response force needed to meet regulatory milestones.
Regulatory liaison during design. Structured early engagement with the relevant national regulator.
Target set & vital area identification. Reflected in the physical layout, not added around it later.

Our Approach

Designed In,
Not Bolted On

Retrofitting security after construction creates problems that are avoidable at the design stage: measures that conflict with safety requirements, delay barriers that have to work around structural elements never designed to support them, and costly rework to lay cabling, sensors, or barriers into a facility not built to accommodate them. Early integration lets these conflicts get resolved on paper.

The Earliest Fix Is Cheap. The Latest Fix Is a Rebuild.
Design and construction-phase advisory engagements are scoped to each client's licensing timeline and regulatory jurisdiction, and handled under the same confidentiality standards as our nuclear security advisory work.

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