UNITED STATES - RUSSIAN LABORATORY-TO-LABORATORY COOPERATION ON PROTECTION, CONTROL, AND ACCOUNTING FOR NAVAL NUCLEAR MATERIALS

In March 1995, the Russian Navy contacted safeguards experts at the Kurchatov Institute (IQ and proposed the initiation of work to enhance nuclear materials protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) at Russian Navy facilities. Because of KI’s successful experience in laboratory-to-laboratory MPC&A cooperation with United States Department of Energy Laboratories, the possibility of United States (US) participation in the work with the Russian Navy was explored. Several months later, approval was received from the US Government and the Russian Navy to proceed with this work on a laboratory-to-laborato~ basis through Kurchatov Institute. As a first step in the cooperation, a planning meeting occurred at KI in September, 1995. Representatives from the US Department of Energy (DOE), the US Department of Defense (DOD), the Russian Navy, and KI discussed several areas for near-term cooperative work, including a vulnerability assessment workshop and a planning study to identi~ and prioritize near-term MPC&A enhancements that might be implemented at Russian facilities which store or handle unirradiated highly enriched uranium fiel for naval propulsion applications. In subsequent meetings, these early proposals have been further refined and extended. This MPC&A cooperation will now include enhanced protection and control features for storage facilities and refueling semice ships, computerized accounting systems for naval fuel, methods and equipment for rapid inventories, improved security of fresh fiel during truck transportation, and training. MPC&A improvements for the icebreaker fleetj which is operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company, are also being considered, although these discussions are still at an early stage. This paper describes the current status and future plans for MPC&A cooperation for naval nuclear materials.