Material Protection, Control and Accountancy (MPC&A) Sustainability

To date, the Department of Energy (DOE) Material Protection, Control and Accountancy (MPC&A) program has assisted in the implementation of operational site-wide MPC&A systems at several nuclear facilities in Russia. Thirteen sites from the the civilian sector have completed the site-wide installations and two have completed subsite installations. By the end of 1999, several additional sites will have completed sitewide and subsite system installations through DOE assistance. The effort at the completed sites has focused primarily on the design, integration, and installation of upgraded MPC&A systems. In most cases, little work has been performed to ensure that the installed systems will be sustained. Because of concerns that the installed systems would not be operated in the future, DOE established a sustainability pilot program involving the 13 sites. The purpose of DOE's MPC&A Sustainability Program is to ensure that MPC&A upgrades installed at sites in Russia are effective and will continue to operate over the long term. The program mission is to work with the sites where rapid upgrades have been completed to cultivate enduring and consistent MPC&A practices. The program attempts to assist the Russian sites to develop MPC&A organizations that will operate, maintain, and continue to improve the systems and procedures. Future assistance will strive to understand and incorporate culturally sensitive approaches so that the sites take ownership for all MPC&A matters. This paper describes the efforts of the sustainability program to date.