IAEA safeguards equipment

Abstract

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) operates a large diversity of equipment to verify nuclear materials, contributing to the confirmation of the states' compliance with their respective nonproliferation obligations. The variety of physical and chemical properties of nuclear materials, as well as their storage environment, requires an arsenal of instruments. Additionally, the IAEA applies various containment and surveillance measures to maintain the continuity of knowledge on nuclear materials. The IAEA need ongoing equipment development to provide its inspectorate with the state-of-the-art tools for performing various safeguards activities. These activities include the measurement of declared nuclear material inventories and flows, the application of enhanced containment and surveillance measures and the search for the indicators of undeclared nuclear material and clandestine nuclear activities. The IAEA is facing increasing demands to perform remote verification of nuclear material flows utilising unattended monitoring systems. Additional analytical capabilities and effective non-destructive assay methods will be indispensable in the future for reinforcing the IAEA's ability to detect undeclared nuclear materials and activities.