10 Years of Cooperation between the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Argentina

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) of Argentina have collaborated together over the past 10 years through the (U.S. DOE-ARN) Safeguards Cooperation Agreement to strengthen the international regime. The agreement was established initially to cooperate in nuclear material control, accountancy, physical verification of the nuclear material, physical protection and new trends in containment and surveillance technologies for international safeguards applications. The collaboration has focused on exploring methods of strengthening the international safeguards regime by developing a methodology and software for applying safeguards to a gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant, evaluation and exploration of surveillance and containment technology, development of sensors for the detection of nuclear materials in a spent fuel site, remote monitoring used for controlling the spent fuel transfers, environmental sampling, and the development of a neutron calibration center. Many of the initial collaborative efforts were evaluations of new technologies and how they could be utilized to provide confirmation of nuclear materials thereby strengthening the international safeguards. This paper will discuss the process of evaluation of these technologies and the experiences gained during this 10-year collaborative effort.