Year
2003
Abstract
The implementation phase of the new system for accounting for foreign obligated nuclear material in the United States will begin in the Fall of 2003. The United States has Bilateral Agreements for Cooperation that require the tracking and periodic reporting of foreign obligated materials in the United States. At present, there are some limitations in the way this data is collected and maintained. The new foreign obligations tracking system for the United States will be applicable to both DOE and NRC facilities. It will replace the Country Control Number as a way to identify \"obligations\" on nuclear material, rather than its country of origin, enrichment, etc. The new system will based solely on transaction and material balance data and obligated balances will be derived by using a sum of transactions with obligation information for a given period of time. The DOE/NRC Form 741 is being changed to reflect the deletion of the Country Control Number field in the detail and the addition of the obligation field on the summary level. The obligation information will include the obligated country/entity, the material obligated, and the obligated amount. In addition, there will be new codes specifically for the exchange of obligations between facilities. The NRC, DOE, State Department, NMMSS, and the facility operators all have an important role in the functionality and maintenance of this system. This foreign obligations tracking system will be able to meet the requirements of the United States Bilateral Agreements for Cooperation, lessen the burden on the United States nuclear industry, facilitate report generation and reconciliation, and improve both our domestic and international reporting capabilities.