Overview of the Facility Safeguardability Analysis (FSA) Process
The safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provides the international community with credible assurance that a State is fulfilling its nonproliferation obligations. The IAEA draws such conclusions from the evaluation of all available information. Effective and cost-efficient IAEA safeguards at the facility level are, and will remain, an important element of this “State-level” approach. Efficiently used, the Safeguards by Design (SBD) methodologies , , , now being developed can contribute to effective and cost-efficient facility-level safeguards. The Facility Safeguardability Assessment (FSA) introduced here supports SBD in three areas. 1. It describes necessary interactions between the IAEA, the State regulator, and the owner / designer of a new or modified facility to determine where SBD efforts can be productively applied, 2. It presents a screening approach intended to identify potential safeguard issues for; a) design changes to existing facilities; b) new facilities similar to existing facilities with approved safeguards approaches, and c) new designs, 3. It identifies resources (the FSA toolkit), such as good practice guides, design guidance, and safeguardability evaluation methods that can be used by the owner/designer to develop solutions for potential safeguards issues during the interactions with the State regulator and IAEA. FSA presents a structured framework for the application of the SBD tools developed in other efforts. The more a design evolves, the greater the probability that new safeguards issues could be introduced. Likewise, for first-of-a-kind facilities or research facilities that involve previously unused processes or technologies, it is reasonable to expect that a number of possible safeguards issues might exist. Accordingly, FSA is intended to help the designer and its safeguards experts identify early in the design process: • Areas where elements of previous accepted safeguards approach(es) may be applied to facility modifications or new designs • Modifications of the design that could mitigate a potential safeguards issue or facilitate a more efficient application of the safeguards approach • Possible innovative ideas for more efficient application of safeguards • The potential for changes in elements of the safeguard approach that may be required by IAEA as a result of facility design features and characteristics • Other potential concerns These issues will then be presented to the IAEA and the state regulator to be resolved in a timely manner, ensuring that the planned safeguards approach is acceptable and compatible with the facility design. The proposed approach should be validated by application to suitable facilities to assess its utility, comprehensiveness, and cost-effectiveness. The approach and example application should also be reviewed by industry to confirm the conclusions reached in the DOE review.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1052952
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-20829; NN4009010
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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