AN UPDATE OF IAEA ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES FOR SAFEGUARDS GOALS, RESULTS AND CHALLENGES

Up ot 1991 the principle function of the Safeguards Analytical Laboratory (SAL) of the IAEA and of the IAEA Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL) for Safeguards analyses was to analyze sames of nuclear materials and havy water requested by IAEA inspectors on the basis of random sampling plants in order to verify the accountability data declared by the States. Independence, accuracy and satisfactory response times are the paramount characteristics expected for such analyses. The major progress in this respect will be reviewed.