National Nuclear Material Accounting in Support of Non-Proliferation

The control and tracking of nuclear material being used for peaceful purposes is the corner stone to the success of a strong non-proliferation regime. The nation states using nuclear material for civilian purposes need a consistent, best practices method for national nuclear material accountancy. This paper will discuss the experiences and best practices of the large national nuclear material accounting systems and their use for tracking and accounting for nuclear material. The industry and nations engaged in all aspects of the fuel cycle must require international standards for tracking nuclear material and applying international accounting principals to accomplish confidence in the nonproliferation regimes of each nation. This paper will discuss the existing methods and systems and how these methods could be applied to an international perspective on national nuclear material accounting. The Russian and U.S. systems will be discussed as a basis for dialog on how to establish international standards and best practices for nuclear material accountancy in the global market place.