Safeguards Applications Research Articles

TINJAUAN HUKUM PRINSIP SAFEGUARD DALAM PROTEKSI PRODUK PERTANIAN INDONESIA

This journal discusses the principles of safeguards in protecting Indonesian agricultural products from surges in imports of agricultural products when it is expected to cause serious harm to the domestic industry in terms of International Trade Law and further elaboration in Indonesian National Law. This study uses a normative legal approach, namely using a literature study in the form of a review of the literature. The application of safeguards to Indonesian agricultural products can be done by setting the amount of import duty rates or setting import quota restrictions and setting time limits. The Indonesian government always seeks to harmonize domestic laws and regulations with international regulations for the protection of domestic farmers and industries in the context of food sovereignty, facilitating trade and increasing exports and preventing trade disputes in international forums.

Neutron spectroscopy of plutonium using a handheld detection system

The ability to distinguish multiple forms of plutonium from one another, such as oxide and metal, is paramount in areas of nuclear nonproliferation and international safeguards. In its metal form, plutonium can be readily used in a nuclear weapon, while oxide forms are associated with nuclear reactor fuel. Oxide-based plutonium forms emit neutrons with an energy spectrum that is significantly different from the fission neutrons that are emitted from plutonium metal. Organic scintillation detectors output pulses that are proportional to the neutron energy deposited, and therefore present a means of distinguishing these plutonium forms based on their energy spectra. In this work, metal and oxide forms of plutonium were measured using a handheld detection system based on an organic glass scintillator. Monte Carlo modeling of these experiments was performed to provide insight into the origin of the features in the observed light output spectra. Through analysis of multiple regions of these spectra, in a matter of minutes we were able to unambiguously discriminate oxide and metal plutonium forms from one another and from a plutonium-beryllium neutron source, which was considered for comparison because these sources are commonly used in industrial applications. The ability to discriminate weapons-usable material from nuclear reactor fuel has applications in nuclear treaty verification and safeguards.

Unsupervised Learning for Improved Gamma-Ray Spectrometry in Pixelated Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) Detectors

Machine learning has been found to be ubiquitously useful across many industries, presenting an opportunity to improve radiation detection performance using data-driven algorithms. Improved detector resolution can aid in the detection, identification, and quantification of radionuclides. In this work, a novel, data-driven, unsupervised learning approach is developed to improve detector spectral characteristics by learning, and subsequently rejecting, poorly performing regions of the pixelated detector. Feature engineering is used to fit individual characteristic photo peaks to a Doniach lineshape with a linear background model. Then, principal component analysis is used to learn a lower-dimension latent space representation of each photo peak where the pixels are clustered, and subsequently ranked, based on the cluster mean distance to an optimal point. Pixels within the worst cluster(s) are rejected to improve the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) by 10% to 15% (relative to the bulk detector) at 50% net efficiency when applied to training data obtained from measurements of a 100 μCi 154Eu source using a H3D M400i pixelated cadmium zinc telluride detector. These results compare well with, but do not outperform, a greedy algorithm that accumulates pixels in order of FWHM from lowest to highest used as a benchmark. In the future, this approach can be extended to include the detector energy and angular response. Finally, the model is applied to newly seen natural and enriched uranium spectra relevant for nuclear safeguards applications.

The Effectiveness of Safeguard Measures in Elevating the Competitiveness of Domestic Industry: Case Study of Indonesia's Textile Industry

Temporary trade barriers, such as safeguards, is a measure to rescue the economy in such a way as to protect domestic industries from foreign competitors. Safeguards provide opportunities for domestic industries to make structural adjustments and reshape their business process to increase their competitiveness during the validity period. Indonesia's government has imposed safeguards for most textile sub-industries, from the upstream industry (yarn and fibres) to the downstream garment industry and other related textile industries. This paper aims to evaluate whether the application of safeguards meets its objectives in improving the competitiveness of domestic industry against its foreign competitors with a long observation period. It is found that the effectiveness of the application of safeguards was limited to rescuing the trade balance. In terms of export competitiveness, safeguards have not been effective in increasing the export competitiveness of the textile industry in the world market.

Application of safeguards to nuclear submarine fuel to ensure security and proliferation resistance

Application of safeguards to nuclear submarine fuel to ensure security and proliferation resistance

Protecting Our Mosts Valuable Personal Data: A Comparison Of Transborder Data Flow Laws In The European Union, United Kingdom, And Indonesia

Information technology and its relationship with data protection is a crucial area that needs to be addressed, especially for data flows among different countries. In the majority of jurisdictions, international data transfers are restricted unless specific requirements stipulated by data protection laws are met. However, in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) there are three exceptions, adequacy, appropriate safeguards, and derogations. This paper conducts a comparative legal analysis of the regulations governing the cross-border transfer of personal data in the EU, UK, and Indonesia. The research method is normative, while the approaches employed are statutory and conceptual with an analytical and descriptive research design. The study focuses on the legal framework and the various mechanisms to protect personal data during transborder flows. The research identified both commonalities and disparities in data protection regulations in Indonesia, the EU, and the UK. Notably, differences appeared in the application of appropriate safeguards and the use of criminal sanctions in Indonesia. Finally, the study concludes by providing recommendations for future developments in the legal frameworks for cross-border data transfer in the EU, UK, and Indonesia.

Systemic crisis of modern international environmental law

The article examines the issue of a complex crisis situation in the field of international legal mediation of environmental protection activities, caused by the treacherous attack of the aggressor country on the territory of Ukraine, which showed the complete inability of the established model of international law, including its organizational and institutional component, to oppose the aggressor's plans due to the forced cessation of hostilities , which follows from the direct functional purpose of the United Nations as the main world peacemaker. First of all, a terminological excursion was made into the formation of the name of the field of international law, which provides legal protection of the environment, which is characterized by the absence of a unified conceptual and categorical apparatus, where, along with international environmental law, the names of international ecological, international nature protection and international environmental law are used. The author's conclusion is made about the expediency of finally stopping at the universal name of international environmental law. The conducted analysis made it possible to establish that the aggressor violated almost all existing branch principles of international environmental law, except for the principle of inadmissibility of radioactive contamination of the environment, which is also under constant threat of violation. The lack of an effective mechanism for the protection of the rights and interests of subjects of international environmental law is illustrated by the example of a number of international documents, in particular the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Means of Impact on the Natural Environment, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Installations, the Convention on nuclear safety and the Agreement between Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency on the application of safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Utilizing a Virtual Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor Digital Twin to Aid in Diversion Pathway Analysis for International Safeguards Applications

Digital twin technology can improve the effectiveness of international safeguards inspectors by providing a tool that can perform an accurate acquisition pathway analysis, identify pathway indicators, develop required sensors to detect indicators, and monitor facilities in real time using critical data streams that benefit from this safeguards-by-design approach. Safeguards inspectors are required to visit facilities and verify the nuclear material to ensure no diversion has taken place and to detect facility misuse; however, this analysis and verification effort is time consuming, and with limited funding, it is imperative that time spent at a nuclear facility is focused on key areas. We developed a virtual digital twin of two general sodium-cooled fast reactors and explored diversion and misuse scenarios to determine how a digital twin could provide inspectors with an understanding of how proliferation may occur and where the most likely areas for proliferation would be. For each of the three reactors, an optimization algorithm was able to find core designs that would be difficult to detect via sensors alone; however, a machine learning adapter provided by the digital twin was able to show general trends in where proliferation is likely to take place.

Detecting Pu in U-bearing Particles by SEM/EDS for Nuclear Safeguards Applications.

Detecting Pu in U-bearing Particles by SEM/EDS for Nuclear Safeguards Applications.

Vulnerable Populations in Bangladesh: Advantages and Risks of Biometric Big Data

Data requirements are evolving in the development industry as data about deprived and vulnerable people assists development agencies in locating people in dire need of assistance and services. The main objective of this paper was to explore how biometric data sources are used to perform humanitarian actions for vulnerable populations in Bangladesh. This study followed a qualitative approach where content analysis was conducted from secondary data sources. The content analysis identified that biometric data contributes to protecting vulnerable groups, strengthening statistical databases, decreasing aid fraud, and ensuring accountability of humanitarian projects. Despite advantages, biometric data creates risks by affecting privacy, exclusion, reusability and data sharing, weak data protection provisions, and high data management costs. Application of legal and technical safeguards will be an obligation for the concerned authorities of biometric big data to serve the genuine objective of developing the vulnerable group. Conversely, misuse of biometric big data and developed technologies will further deteriorate the conditions of vulnerable people and communities.

An ultrasonic approach to identify in-core reactor fuel for safeguards applications

An ultrasonic fuel assembly identification system is proposed as a means for maintaining continuity of knowledge for safeguarding fuel within a sealed or long-life core of a liquid-metal-cooled reactor. Publicly available concept design information of the LeadCold SEALER reactor is used as an example to exhibit how an ultrasonic system can be used to read a series of notches of various depths, and to subsequently translate them into fuel assembly identification numbers using an encoding scheme. In this work, a number of encoding schemes are considered and evaluated for the maximum number of ultrasonic transducers that can fail and still guarantee recovery of the fuel assembly identification. For some schemes, up to 8 of 12 transducers can fail and still allow the fuel assembly identification to be guaranteed recoverable; up to 13 notch depths per notch are required in some instances. Supporting this assessment, simulation of the ultrasonic read-out system indicates that a notch depth resolution of approximately ∼1 mm is possible at 4.75 MHz. Some discussion is provided concerning practical aspects of deploying such an identification system for the long term in a high-temperature, high-radioactivity reactor environment.

An absolute measurement of the neutron production rate of a spent nuclear fuel sample used for depletion code validation

A method to determine the neutron production rate of a spent nuclear fuel segment sample by means of non-destructive assay conducted under standard controlled-area conditions is described and demonstrated. A neutron well counter designed for routine nuclear safeguards applications is applied. The method relies on a transfer procedure that is adapted to the hot cell facilities at the Laboratory for High and Medium level Activity of SCK CEN in Belgium. Experiments with 252Cf(sf) sources, certified for their neutron emission rate, were carried out at the Joint Research Centre to determine the characteristics of the detection device. Measurements of a segment of a spent nuclear fuel rod were carried out at SCK CEN resulting in an absolute and non-destructive measurement of the neutron production rate avoiding any reference to a representative spent nuclear fuel sample to calibrate the device. Results of these measurements were used to study the performance of depletion codes, i.e., ALEPH2, SCALE, and Serpent2. The study includes a code-to-code and code-to-experiment comparison using different nuclear data libraries.

A global assessment of the prevalence of current and potential future infrastructure in Key Biodiversity Areas

Infrastructure development is a major threat to biodiversity, leading to habitat loss and fragmentation, increased accessibility and pollution. Key Biodiversity Areas represent the most comprehensive network of important areas for biodiversity and the prevalence of infrastructure in KBAs has not previously been described. Here we examined the prevalence of current and potential future infrastructure within the global network of 15,150 terrestrial KBAs, using a range of open and commercial spatial datasets related to infrastructure. Current infrastructure types analysed included transport, energy, extractives, urban areas, and dams and reservoirs. At least 80 % of KBAs contain infrastructure, and roads occurred in 75.1 % of KBAs. Potential future development of mines, oil and gas infrastructure and powerplants suggests a significant increase in the number of KBAs that may contain these infrastructure types in the future (e.g. by ~292 % for mines)), disproportionately in countries in the Global South. Further work is needed to determine how different infrastructure types affect the species and ecosystems for which KBAs have been identified. More effective application and wider adoption of safeguards are needed to ensure infrastructure development avoids serious negative impacts on biodiversity.

Multi-Output Gaussian Processes for Inverse Uncertainty Quantification in Neutron Noise Analysis

In a fissile material, the inherent multiplicity of neutrons born through induced fissions leads to correlations in their detection statistics. The correlations between neutrons can be used to trace back some characteristics of the fissile material. This technique, known as neutron noise analysis, has applications in nuclear safeguards or waste identification. It provides a nondestructive examination method for an unknown fissile material. This is an example of an inverse problem where the cause is inferred from observations of the consequences. However, neutron correlation measurements are often noisy because of the stochastic nature of the underlying processes. This makes the resolution of the inverse problem more complex since the measurements are strongly dependent on the material characteristics. A minor change in the material properties can lead to very different outputs. Such an inverse problem is said to be ill posed. For an ill-posed inverse problem, the inverse uncertainty quantification is crucial. Indeed, seemingly low noise in the data can lead to strong uncertainties in the estimation of the material properties. Moreover, the analytical framework commonly used to describe neutron correlations relies on strong physical assumptions, and is thus inherently biased. This paper addresses dual goals. First, surrogate models are used to improve neutron correlation predictions and quantify the errors on those predictions. Then the inverse uncertainty quantification is performed to include the impact of measurement error alongside the residual model bias.

Production of mixed element actinide reference particulates to support nuclear safeguards using THESEUS, an aerosol-based particulate synthetic methodology.

The THermally Evaporated Spray for Engineered Uniform particulateS (THESEUS) production platform was developed to generate highly uniform mixed actinide oxide particles. The particulate synthesis platform builds on previous efforts and utilizes an aerosol-based technology to generate, calcine, characterize, and aggregate a monodisperse oxide phase particle product. In this study, particles comprised of uranium oxide, incorporated with varying compositions of thorium, were produced. Th/U test materials with 232Th concentrations between 1 ppm and 10%, ratioed to 238U, were successfully generated with in situ calcination at 600 °C and characterized by in situ aerodynamic particle size spectrometry and ex situ microanalytical methods. Populations of monodisperse particulates (geometric standard deviation - GSD < 1.15) with an average diameter near 1 μm were generatated and micro-Raman spectroscopy of individual particles identified U3O8 as the primary material phase for the range of Th/U samples analyzed. Single particle measurements and automated particle analyses by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were performed. Uniform inter-particle elemental and isotopic homogeneity for uranium and thorium isotopes was characterized by SIMS, and a 232Th/238U relative sensitivity factor of 0.53 was determined. SIMS results demonstrated differences in the 232Th/238U profiling behavior for Th/U particulates with increased Th content (>1%). Despite the observed profiling behavior, single particle measurements of the 10% Th sample indicate inter-particle homogeneity. This work represents the first systematic study of Th/U microparticulate reference materials generated and intended for nuclear safeguards applications and serves as a demonstration of THESEUS to support a sustained capability for the production mixed-element particulate reference materials.

Calcium Titanate Orthorhombic Perovskite-Nickel Oxide Solar-Blind UVC Photodetectors with Unprecedented Long-Term Stability Exceeding 500 Days and Their Applications to Real-Time Flame Detection

In recent years, the rapid increase in fire frequency has led to demands for efficient fire monitoring systems. To realize sensitive and large-area fire monitoring, flame sensing based on an ultraviolet C (UVC) photodetector can be considered as a promising approach. However, the challenges such as the high-cost process, limited selection of photoactive materials with an appropriate band gap, inefficient power consumption, stability issues, and environmental noise interference restrict the development of UVC photodetectors (PDs) for practical flame safeguard applications. Here, we demonstrate flame detection with a UVC PD based on an ultrawide band gap calcium titanate (CTO) and nickel oxide (NiO) heterostructure. The proposed PD achieves a high solar-blinded rejection ratio (at UVC light/UVA light) of 2.9 × 104, on/off switching current ratio of 120 A/A under UVC light and dark state, robust and stable operation longer than 1 year (502 days), and specific detectivity as high as 4.44 × 1011 Jones under zero-voltage bias operation. During the flame combustion, the CTO/NiO UVC PD exhibits a systematic real-time output voltage change with flame intensity variation, which opens up new possibilities for rapid and accurate fire detection.

Semi-empirical simulation of in-motion radiation detection systems

The Replicative Assessment of Spectroscopic Equipment (RASE) is an open-source software that uses experimental data as the basis to simulate the response of commercial radiation detectors to sources in various situations, particularly in the context of nuclear security and safeguards applications. Dynamic RASE introduces the capability to simulate scenarios where sources and detector are in relative motion. Position-dependent experimentally acquired gamma spectra are ingested by Dynamic RASE to build maps that describe the detector response over all space. These response maps are used to replicate the time-dependent energy spectra collected as sources move on a path near the detector. A Gaussian process is used to build each map, incorporating a novel kernel adapted to the special case of radiation detection. The approach has been validated against experimental data acquired using a NaI-based detector for 137Cs and 54Mn sources. The capability to create accurate simulations using either long-dwell static measurements or dynamic pass-by measurements as source data has been demonstrated. Quantitative relative performance, benefits, and shortcomings are discussed.

Safeguarding against Harm in a Climate-Smart Forest Economy: Definitions, Challenges, and Solutions

Sustainably managed forests and forest products have a well-documented potential to deliver significant climate change mitigation benefits via sequestration, storage, and substitution (the 3Ss) when they are sourced sustainably and substituted for traditional resource-intensive materials. Moving beyond product-specific considerations, a climate-smart forest economy (CSFE) aims to bolster the 3Ss and catalyze broader systemic change to address the climate crisis. In their most successful cases, forest value chain interventions that lead to CSFEs will link secondary and tertiary sectors for greater waste reduction, substitution, innovation, and overall cascading climate benefits. However, interventions that contribute to CSFEs, from small to large scale, will inevitably impact environments and communities, both directly and indirectly. While positive impacts can be thought of as co-benefits and should be encouraged, negative impacts are considered negative externalities, and these should be avoided or minimized wherever possible by safeguarding against harm. The failure to minimize negative externalities will have implications for equity, project longevity, and climate benefits. This paper provides preliminary results of mixed methods research with an aim of identifying and building consensus on the definitions, challenges, and solutions relevant to the assessment, planning, and implementation of CSFE safeguards. While broad and novel CSFE safeguards application faces diverse challenges, this paper explores practical solutions to advance and set a foundation for future dialogue, analysis, and application.

Cell design for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy measurements on reactive gas samples

Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is the primary material used for the enrichment of uranium in the production of light water nuclear reactor fuels worldwide. Accurate, rapid quantification of uranium isotopic composition in nuclear materials is required for safeguards programs and nonproliferation purposes. One potential technique for isotopic measurements in uranium species in the field is laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Safe and effective application of LIBS to UF6 for enrichment measurements is uniquely challenging due to the chemical and physical properties of UF6, which necessitate specific handling procedures. The objective of this work is to design a cell for isotopic analysis of UF6 that is (1) compatible with chemical and physical properties of UF6, (2) compatible with LIBS laser, and (3) portable-sized for nuclear safeguards applications. Along with cell design, initial testing of the cell for basic performance and chemical compatibility is performed. As designed and constructed, the portable gas cell was gas-tight, chemically compatible with UF6, and withstood long-duration laser exposure. The cell has proven capability for handling reactive gasses, such as UF6, with specification application to isotopic analysis.

Technical and Economic Features of IAEA Safeguards Application at NPPs with a Fast Reactor and On-Site Fuel Cycle

Technical and Economic Features of IAEA Safeguards Application at NPPs with a Fast Reactor and On-Site Fuel Cycle