Maintaining Countinuity of Knowledge on Safeguards Samples

The conclusions of the vulnerability test on VOPAN [1] (Verification of Operator's Analysis) as conducted at Safeguards Analytical Laboratory (SAL) at Seibersdorf, Austria in October 1990 and documented in STR-266, indicate that \"whenever samples are taken for safeguards purposes extreme care must be taken to ensure that they have not been interfered with during the sample taking, transportation, storage or sample preparation process.\" Indeed there exist a number of possibilities to alter the content of a safeguards sample vial from the moment of sampling up to the arrival of the treated (or untreated) sample at SAL. The time lapse between these two events can range from a few days up to months. The sample history over this period can be subdivided into three main sub-periods: i) the period from when the sampling activities are commenced up to the treatment in the operator's laboratory, ii) during treatment of samples in the operator's laboratory, and finally, iii) the period between that treatment and the arrival of the sample at SAL. A combined effort between the Agency and the United States Support Program to the Agency (POTAS) has resulted in two active tasks and one proposed task to investigate improving the maintainance of continuity of knowledge on safeguards samples during the entire period of their existence. This paper describes the use of the Sample Vial Secure Container (SVSC) [2], of the Authenticated Secure Container System (ASCS) [3], and of the Secure Container for Storage and Transportation of samples (SCST) [4] to guarantee that a representative portion of the solution sample will be received at SAL.