ADVANCED IAEA TRAINING COURSES SPONSORED BY THE U.S. SUPPORT PROGRAM TO IAEA SAFEGUARDS

The U.S. Support Program to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards sponsors five advanced training courses for IAEA inspectors in the U.S. national laboratory complex. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) conducts the Nondestructive Assay (NDA) Inspector Training Course and the Advanced Plutonium Verification Techniques (APVT) Training Course at the LANL site. In the NDA course, which is required for all IAEA inspectors in their first year in the job, the inspectors learn proper application of NDA instruments to measure nuclear materials. In the APVT course, senior inspectors increase their knowledge and skills in the use of neutron coincidence counting and gamma ray spectrometry techniques used by the IAEA in the verification of various strata of plutonium materials. LANL also conducts the Multi- Instrument Collect (MIC) and Radiation Review for Inspectors course at the Vienna IAEA headquarters. This course provides trainees with theoretical knowledge and practical skills for using MIC and Radiation Review software with unattended and remote monitoring systems. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducts the Nuclear Material Safeguards for Uranium Enrichment Plants training course at IAEA Vienna headquarters to train IAEA inspectors in the theory and operation of enrichment facilities, in the techniques the IAEA uses to safeguard enrichment, and in possible diversion strategies in an enrichment facility. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) conducts the Additional Protocol Complementary Access (APCA) training course to teach inspectors the needed skills to understand the responsibilities of the Additional Protocol (AP) with respect to planning, performing, and reporting complementary access (CA) visits to nuclear sites. The APCA consists of the first week of headquarters background preparation to enhance the inspectors’ understanding of the AP. They are also briefed on the mock state of “Freedonia,” situated in Long Island, NY, where BNL is located. During the second week at BNL, they practice doing mock CAs and handling managed access conditions while trying to discern if the Freedonian nuclear program had any undeclared nuclear activities. These five courses provide the IAEA with training that enhances their inspectors’ abilities to measure nuclear material properties, to safeguard enrichment facilities, and to detect clandestine programs and facilities, all in support of the demanding new Strengthened Safeguards System.