Safeguards: European Perspectives

EURATOM Safeguards has been set up in 1957 through the Treaty establishing the “European Atomic Energy Community”, It has a regulatory function based on European Law and is directly applicable to individual operators of nuclear installations in the Union. This contribution to the 37th Annual Meeting of the INMM addresses current main safeguards issues in the European Union. Beyond important operational aspeets regarding implementation of effective safeguards - in particular to Large Scale Plutonium Handling Processing Plants (LSPPP) - the paper will also deal with questions regarding the setting up of the New Co-operation Agreement between the European Union and the United States, the cooperation with the Community of Independent States (CIS) and, of course, issues concerning the international non-proliferation area, for instance the “Program 93+2”. Finally an account is given on the co-operation between the global non-proliferation safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Ageney (IAEA), the EUR4TOM Regional Safeguards System (RSSE) and the interaction of both systems within the framework of the New Partnership Approach.