Multilateral Safeguards System for Nuclear Fuel Assurance

Recently various suggestions about nuclear fuel supply assurances have been presented for limiting dissipation of sensitive nuclear technologies and material, and several ones among them like the MNA by the IAEA can be regarded as having practical approaches to get the final ends of nuclear nonproliferation. If these suggestions for fuel supply assurance are implemented in the near future, it is expected that the great extent of risk and threat caused by the nuclear proliferation can be reduced while stimulating expanding the peaceful use of nuclear power. To refine these ideas more applicable and realistic, first of all, a broad consensus by major countries to be expected to play key roles in the nuclear fuel supply network. It is well known that a controversy about the right of peaceful use of nuclear power is still on–going, in which the countries which do not have sensitive fuel technologies won’t be allowed to acquire or develop them if joined any fuel supply assurance framework. It seems that the debate cannot be ceased as long as the discussion about supply assurance ideas continues, but the multilateral fuel service can be a breakthrough to this impasse. The other point which should be considered is about safeguards. In most suggestions it is recognized that the IAEA can do the central role in the fuel supply assurance framework, but specific approaches for implementation are not presented. It is expected that various problems like how to acquire extra budget and resources, how to solve or justify legal rights of the IAEA’s safeguards implementation on the multilateral facility, and so on. A solution to that problem, the MSAC (Multilateral System of Accounting for and Control of) concept, can be presented. In the MSAC, all the participants take part in the safeguard implementation and can do supplementary work for the IAEA. In order to expedite the implementation of the fuel supply assurance ideas, the safeguards implementation approaches should be prepared in line with other administrative and technical provisions.