SAFEGUARDS AND SECURITY BENEFITS OF PROJECT STRAIGHT-LINE

As a result of a number of events the inventory of fissile materials no longer in nuclear weapons in the United States is increasing. This has led to a growing concern regarding the potential for theft and/or diversion and accountability of this material. Straight-Line is a project whose purpose is to demonstrate a site-independent system to monitor stored nuclear material (e.g. plutonium) and integrate the collection, processing and dissemination of information regarding this material. The safeguards and security (S&S) goals of this project include data transfer of information on nuclear material to appropriate users to enhance S&S, continuous on-line accountability, reduction of hands-on access to nuclear materials, incorporation of information security technologies, and early detection of tampering or unauthorized material movement. This paper will address threat considerations, S&S requirements, S&S objectives, and issues for the Straight-Line project. S&S features and benefits of this project will be discussed with respect to existing item monitoring systems and/or other material tracking systems being developed.