U. S. Department of Energy Physical Protection Upgrades at the Latvian Academy of Sciences Nuclear Research Center, Latvia*

Approximately five years ago, the Safe, Secure Dismantlement program was started between the United States and countries of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The purpose of the program is to accelerate progress toward reducing the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation, including such threats as theft, diversion, and unauthorized possession of nuclear materials. This would be accomplished by strengthening the material protection, control, and accounting systems within the FSU countries. Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s program of providing cooperative assistance to the FSU countries in the areas of Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC&A), the Latvian Academy of Sciences Nuclear Research Center (LNRC) near Riga, Latvia, was identified as a candidate site for a cooperative MPC&A project. The LNRC is the site of a 5-megawatt IRT-C pool-type research reactor, The reactor was designed by the Kurchatov Institute in Russia. This paper describes: the process involved, from initial contracting to project completion, for the physical protection upgrades now in place at the LNRC; the intervening activities; and a brief overview of the technical aspects of the upgrades. Preliminary activities began with an initial site visit in July 1994. Actual physical protection upgrades began in May 1995 with contracts between Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the LNRC. Upgrades have included an access control system, intrusion detection system, video surveillance system, and an integrated alarm communications and assessment system. Latvian facility operators played a key role in the upgrades, from system design and layout to site preparation and hardware installation. Also, as part of the upgrades, key Latvian ofllcials received training on U.S. approaches to physical protection, and operational security procedures were developed with cooperation from facility personnel. All identified physical protection upgrades are now in place and have been turned over for operational use by the Latvian authorities. LNRC is the first of DOE’s MPC&A programs in the newly independent states (NIS) to be completed. *This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s RussialNIS Nuclear Materials Security Task Force. 1189