Year
1996
Abstract
US Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories and Russian institutes are becoming increasingly cooperative in support of nonproliferation of nuclear materials. This paper will describe completed projects, current work, and areas of possible future cooperation between US laboratories and a Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (MINATOM) entity, Special Scientific and Production State Enterprise (SNPO), henceforth referred to as “Eleron.” The Kurchatov Institute, Eleron, and the US national laboratories jointly completed a physical protection system (PPS) for a facility housing two reactors at Kurchatov Institute within a very short time frame in 1994. Spin-off projects from this work resulted in a USwitnessed acceptance test of the new system adhering to a procedure adopted in Russia, and visits by DOE laboratories’ personnel to Eleron’s sensor development and test facilities at Dubna and Penza. Eleron was one of the MINATOM sites at which Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) conducted a vulnerability assessment training course. Current cooperative projects include additional physical protection upgrades at Kurchatov where Eleron is involved as an installer and supplier of sensors, alarm display, video, and fiber optic equipment. Two additional contracts between SNL and Eleron result in information on Russian sensor performance and cost and an exchange of US and Russian sensors. Russian sensors will be tested in the United States, and US sensors will be tested in Russia. Pacific Northwest Labora-tory administers a contract to document the process of certifying physical protection equipment for use at MINATOM facilities. Recent interest in transportation security has opened a new area of cooperation between the national laboratories and Eleron. Future projects are expected to includeE leron participation in physical protection upgrades at other locations in Russia, pedestrian and vehicle portal development, positive personnel identifier testing, and the exchange and testing of additional equipment. Other physical protection elements, workshops, and software enhancements are also being discussed.