Year
2011
Abstract
The safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must continue to evolve to detect effectively and early the misuse of nuclear material and technology and to use the Agency?s resources more efficiently to implement its verification mission. To this end, the IAEA?s Department of Safeguards is continually striving to optimize its processes and the way it works. In 2010, the Department completed its first ever Long-Term Strategic Plan covering the period 2012-2023. One important strategy identified in the Plan is the need to further evolve the IAEA?s safeguards system to become fully information driven. To address this strategy, the Agency is further developing the State-level concept for the planning, implementation and evaluation of safeguards activities. State-level approaches will be developed and implemented for all States with safeguards agreements in force taking into account all information available to the Agency about a State, in order to apply an optimized combination of safeguards measures for each State. By taking into account a broader range of State-specific factors, safeguards activities in the field and at Headquarters will become increasingly information driven, focused and efficient. Inspection-related activities and the State evaluation process not only need to be linked but merged. This integration requires (i) changes in departmental infrastructure, organization, processes and culture to enhance the exchange of information and use collaborative processes in the evaluation of States and the planning of verification activities, and (ii) evolution to an adaptable, objectives-based safeguards system that will allow the Department to optimize its safeguards activities. The paper will describe the activities being undertaken by the Agency to accelerate towards a safeguards system that is fully information driven.