Report of On-Site Inspection Workshop-20: Debriefing on OSI Build-Up Exercises (BUE) I and II/IV and Preparations for BUE III

Technical Report · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1078536· OSTI ID:1078536

Sweeney, Jerry ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); et al.

OSI Workshop-20, “Debriefing on OSI Build-Up Exercises (BUE) I and II/IV and Preparations for BUE III”, took place on 29 October – 2 November 2012 at the Vienna International Centre. There were a total of 83 participants from both the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) and 19 States Signatories. This workshop is part of the planning and preparation process leading up to the 2014 Integrated Field Exercise (IFE14). The opening plenary session provided an overview of the build-up exercises (BUEs) and the overall planning process for IFE14 and preparations for BUE I and BUE II/IV, and the closing session provided a summary of findings. Other sessions consisted of a summary of the preparations for BUE I (launch phase), review and discussion of the execution of BUE I, review and discussion of BUE II/IV (pre-inspection and post-inspection phases), and review and planning of elements of BUE III (inspection phase) and IFE14. BUE I was conducted in mid-April and BUE II/IV in mid-September 2012. BUE III is planned for 26 May – 7 June 2013 and IFE14 for November-December 2014. The purpose of this workshop was to give the participants who took part in the exercises and participants at the workshop a chance to review the preparation and execution of BUE I and BUE II/IV, assess them as to their value to the exercise build-up process, determine what went well and what did not go well, and provide recommendations to help the planning for BUE III and IFE14. This was accomplished by means of presentations by PTS staff and other participants, discussions following the presentations and separate expert working group discussions. The consensus of the participants was that BUE I and BUE II/IV validated the exercise concept contained in CTBT/PTS/INF.1105 (Concept for Preparation and Conduct of the Next Integrated Field Exercise). The many details dealt with in the launch, pre-inspection and post inspection exercises provided an opportunity to test a host of issues prior to IFE14. The exercises showed that the PTS has made considerable progress in developing capabilities in logistics, administration and planning of an OSI since IFE08, and pointed as well to a number of areas where more attention is needed – most notably in the areas of health and safety and equipment checking at the base of operations. A number of areas for which results from the two initial exercises can be applied to BUE III and IFE14 were identified. Also, the review of plans and preparations for BUE III and IFE14 provided the participants with an excellent baseline of information on these two exercises. Probably the most significant impressions that resulted from this workshop are the significant level of complexity involved with preparing the OSI verification regime, the extent of planning involved in the preparation of exercises, and the great value of these types of BUE for assessing and building OSI capabilities. The recommendations section at the end of this report contains the findings of the workshop, grouped into lessons learned from the first two BUEs, proposals relevant to BUE III and IFE14 and issues for the attention of Working Group B.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48; AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1078536
• Report Number(s): LLNL--TR-618034; CTBT/WS/OSI-20/1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS