The EC Co-Operation with Russia in the Field of Nuclear Materials Accountancy Control

The European Commission’s TACIS program (Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States) includes a contribution in the area of Nuclear Materials Accountancy and Control (NMAC). The high level objectives of this contribution are: · to contribute to establishment of an efficient and effective NMAC system in Russia and other CIS countries · to contribute to reduction of illicit trafficking · to contribute to the safe operation and management of nuclear materials at nuclear fuel cycle facilities in Russia and other CIS countries. To achieve these objectives, extensive information exchange took place between EU organisations and CIS. It was concluded that for upgrading the State System of Control in Russia and other CIS countries, and for achieving a large scale implementation of NMAC concepts, it was necessary to work on a number of program lines. These included: training and methodological support; instrument procurement and development, upgrading of the analytical capabilities and related metrology and reference materials, and, implementation of full scale NMAC solutions at typical plants. A number of projects were started along these lines. These projects are briefly described. The paper then discusses the lessons learnt from the projects particularly issues related with their longer term sustainability, as well as the future evolution of the program.