Evaluating the Impact of Environmental Sampling at DOE Facilities Currently under IAEA Safeguards

The Department of Energy has undertaken a study to address the implications of implementing IAEA environmental sampling as a safeguards measure at its facilities in the United States which are currently under IAEA safeguards. It is the objective of the DOE, and the U.S. Government, to accept, as fully as possible consistent with obligations under the Nonproliferation Treaty, the safeguards measures addressed in the IAEA’s Programme 93+2. Using IAEA sampling protocol and procedures, the project team will take samples at the facilities currently under IAEA safeguards, beginning with the Hanford site, and will then screen and analyze those samples using IAEA methods. The results will be reviewed by site operators and classification experts to determine if information of national security significance is present. This study will allow the Department of Energy to respond quickly, and in an informed manner, to future requests by the IAEA to perform environmental sampling as part of its overall safeguards approach.