Year
2025
Abstract
Building upon four decades of the Australian Safeguards Support Program (ASSP), in 2023-24 the Australian Safeguards & Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO) launched VERIFY, a new safeguards research and development program aimed at delivering:
• new technologies to meet emerging Australian safeguards challenges
• innovative verification techniques and technologies for effective IAEA safeguards
• building the next generation of Australian nuclear safeguards expertise and workforce
to be able to support and assess future non-proliferation verification requirements.
Verify was established through an Australian Government investment of AUD 10 million over two years (July 2023 – June 2025) to re-invigorate Australian safeguards research and development.
Over two financial years, ASNO conducted market research and identified four key initiatives which together addressed the three priorities of the Verify program. These four initiatives are:
(1) Innovative development of non-optical verification for decommissioned nuclear reactors
(2) An internationally-recognised post graduate qualification in nuclear safeguards
(3) Strengthening Australia’s expertise in and support to, IAEA swipe sample analysis
(4) Investing into more efficient and effective IAEA safeguards through the Australian Safeguards Support Program (ASSP)
In two short years, Verify has shifted the focus of Australia’s best scientific and engineering minds to improve IAEA Safeguards, and with more opportunities already identified for the coming years, the Verify program is living up to its goal:
“Verify – strengthening nuclear safeguards in a complex world”