THE DIVISION OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS SAFEGUARDS THE FIRST YEAR

Last year I had the privilege to discuss with you the organization that was established to implement safeguards applied to private industry and how we were going about our business. I am pleased to be invited back to your annual meeting to report on the progress of the safeguards regulatory program and give you a brief status report. As you know, the Division of Nuclear Materials Safeguards, reporting to the Director of Regulation, is responsible for administering safeguards for all special nuclear material held by licensees regardless of its origin, including Government—owned materials in licensee plants and laboratories. In carrying out this responsibility, the Division is organized into two functional units; namely, Licensing and Regulations, and Operations. At this time, the Division has a staff of 32 employees, 20 of which are assigned to the District Safeguards Offices. Inspection of licensees is conducted under the Operations function through the three District Safeguards Offices. The District I Office is located at Newark, New Jersey; District II at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and District III at Berkeley, California. At the present time, inspections are conducted by the District Safeguards Offices at those licensee facilities authorized to possess more than 5 kgs. of uranium 235, plutonium, uranium 233, or any combination thereof in an unsealed configuration. There are thirteen such licensees under the jurisdiction of District I, ten in District II, and five in District III (Slide 1). It is anticipated that some four to six additional facilities of this type will be licensed in the next few years and will be inspected for safeguards purposes.