Transportation and accounting : linking two national databases

IRSN is the French TSO in nuclear and radiation risks. Its activities cover all the related scientific and technical issues. Among these numerous activities, it carries out the centralised accountancy of nuclear materials. Within the context of the national regulation, a daily report for any inventory change has to be transmitted to the centralised accountancy by the authorized operators. The centralized accountancy processes every working day the accounting records sent by all the facilities in the country. These records include the usual accounting data. By crossing this accounting information, a computerised system verifies the validity of the data and their consistency (e. g. matching of the accounting data between shipper and receiver, availability in stocks, respect of international obligations). The data are, if necessary, corrected by the operators. Safeguards reports are produced and checked on this basis. IRSN supports also the Authority in the management and monitoring of nuclear materials transport with a Transport Control Center (TCC). Prior to the authorization of any transport, data describing the nuclear material are requested by TCC pursuant to the national regulation. These data are recorded in a specific database dedicated to transport activities. Discrepancies have been occasionally identified between these two separated sources. Reconciliation between the two sources, in addition, has proven tedious and time-consuming. In order to easily and systematically cross-check the two sources, a linkage between the two databases has very recently been created. It was made possible by the adding of the transport ID in the transmitted accounting data, creating a common key between the two databases. This information was made mandatory in the context of an overall new national regulation, greatly strengthening the veracity of information both for Safeguards and Security purposes. This new regulation entered into force as of 1 January 2023.