Management of Foreign Obligated Nuclear Material in the United States

Management of Foreign Obligated Nuclear Material in the United StatesU.S. nuclear cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy with other countries is authorized by Section 123 of the Atomic Act of 1954. An Agreement for Nuclear Cooperation (also referred to as a 123 agreement) is a prerequisite in most instances for U.S. supply of nuclear materials. DOE/NNSA through NA-24 is responsible for accepting nuclear material subject to obligations under a 123 agreement that is imported by the United States. In some cases, the State Department would take the lead for accepting the obligations for complex or politically sensitive countries. However, there is no single interagency reference guide that consolidates facility reporting requirements for foreign obligated nuclear material. The fragmented nature of obligations accounting information presents significant management challenges for facilities possessing these materials and charged with daily nuclear material accountancy reporting activities to the U.S. government. To fill this information void, the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System program prepared an informational reference, a manual, for public release for use by facilities that manage these materials. It is not intended as a guidance or regulatory document, but rather consolidates and synthesizes information from various governmental, regulatory, and industry sources. It also draws heavily upon open source material presented at training meetings and international workshops. As such, this manual was prepared to serve as a primer to all who are interested in accounting for foreign obligated nuclear materials. It is organized to permit the reader to first obtain a general understanding of the basic accounting principles that underlie obligations accounting. Basic principles are then followed by their actual application to the fuel cycle, including mining and milling, conversion, enrichment processes, and use of these materials in operating power reactors. The important topic of managing foreign obligated nuclear materials at DOE facilities is also specifically addressed. The hope is that insights and takeaways of the theory are translated to improved foreign obligated material management and reporting practices. This paper discusses the contents of the guide and updates plans for public release.