Year
2008
Abstract
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in its mission to verify safeguards declarations of NPT signatory states, applies unattended instrumentation to provide continuity of knowledge between inspection visits. Fast developing and emerging technologies force the IAEA to continuously update its safeguards instrumentation suite and to develop new safeguards solutions in order to counter obsolescence problems and to stay ahead of the adversary. One IAEA project of great importance is the development of the Next Generation Surveillance System (NGSS) to replace the Digital Camera Module 14 (DCM-14) technology, which was first implemented for safeguards in 1998. After 10 years of reliable performance, the DCM-14 is gradually reaching the end of its lifecycle with critical components disappearing from the market and more advanced components becoming commercially available. Due to the unique requirements for safeguards instrumentation, such as radiation tolerance and extremely high data security, custom-designed solutions are indispensable for NGSS, with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment playing an important complementary role. The first two of four development phases have been reported in prior INMM paper publications. The present paper will outline the work of phase three which includes the final design of the NGSS and the first prototype production. It will also give an overview on the remaining work of phase four of the project. Some comments about challenges encountered throughout the development that might affect other projects and recommended solutions will conclude the paper.