Concentration Criteria for the Termination of International Safeguards on Nuclear Material Discards

Criteria for the termination of international safeguards on nuclear material discards are under evaluation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These criteria should establish when nuclear materials are no longer practicably usable for any safeguards-relevant activity. An algorithm for the calculation of concentration criteria for the termination of safeguards is proposed. This approach is based on comparable resources and effort to recover a significant quantity of nuclear material from process wastes and source material. An order of magnitude greater resources and effort is estimated to be necessary to deter clandestine recovery of nuclear material from wastes on which safeguards were terminated. Increasing the \"costs\" of recovery through decreasing the nuclear material concentration on which safeguards may be terminated also increases the risk of detection of the clandestine recovery effort by increasing facility sizes required to process the discards. Safeguards termination criteria are developed for conditioned plutoniumbearing wastes from reprocessing plants.