Year
1999
Abstract
Information remains a cornerstone in safeguards. Strengthened safeguards builds on 1) States contributing more information to the IAEA and 2) increased access rights for the IAEA in the States. Through an iterative process of information evaluation and verification activities in States, the IAEA may achieve increased confidence on the correctness and completeness of States’ declarations. Information analysis is a key element in this process, through which information submitted by the State, obtained during and as a result of verification activities in States and obtained from open sources will be evaluated and reviewed. The Agency’s process for information analysis has been in place since early 1997. The process will obtain its full strength for States with safeguards agreements and the Additional Protocol in force. The process of information evaluation involves all Divisions of the Department of Safeguards. Divisional responsibilities, the terms of reference for the Information Review Committee, progress, anticipated developments, and the contribution of the evaluation process to the integration of safeguards will be further elaborated in the paper.