SAFEGUARDS AND THE U.S. WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Year
1988
Author(s)
Leslie G. Fishbone - Brookhaven National Laboratory
E.R. Johnson - E. R. Johnson Associates, Inc.
Bruce W. Moran - Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.
James H. Saling - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Abstract
Recommended activities to initiate the cost-effective implementation of nuclear materials safeguards in the U.S. Federal Waste Management System are described. Require- ments for the safeguarding of spent nuclear fuel and high- level radioactive wastes in transport operations, dry storage, fuel repackaging, and final disposal in a mined geologic repository are evaluated. Operated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and eligible for International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, the Federal Waste Management System will most likely be required to meet the directives of each safeguards authority. Recommended activities include a review of the effectiveness of existing requirements for safeguarding the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes associated with the Federal Waste Management System, the development of pro forma safeguards plans, the evaluation of methods for the determination of the special nuclear material content of the wastes, and the assessment of potentially applicable containment and surveillance techniques.