Results of the Second Joint INMM/ESARDA Workshop on Science and Modern Technology for Safeguards

To promote the continued effectiveness of International Safeguards activities, the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) and the European Safeguards Research and Development Association (ESARDA) have joined together to initiate a series of workshops on Science and Modern Technology for Safeguards. Thus far two Workshops have been conducted: the first in Arona, Italy, in 1996,’ and the second in Albuquerque, NM, USA, in 1998.2 The results of the first Workshop were reported in papers presented at the 1997 ESARDA3 and INMM4 annual meetings. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the second Workshop.5 Safeguards and nuclear materials management are the heart of nuclear nonproliferation. These efforts are vitally important and it is essential that their effectiveness be maintained. One way to accomplish this is to take advantage of the rapid progress of technology. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), EURATOM, and other safeguards inspectorates need to increase their efforts to adopt modern science and technology in support of their mission. However, monitoring a wide spectrum of rapidly advancing scientific areas cannot be done by the inspectorates alone. They need the support of the Member State community and especially the research community therein. There is a need to start as early as possible with the identification of useful technical or political verification tools - the road to implementation of safeguards measures can often be long and difficult because of the dual political and technical nature of International Safeguards.